TravTalk September 2013

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` 50/-A DDP PUBLICATIONVol. XXV No. 18; September 2nd fortnight issue 2013 Pages: 44 (Excluding cover)

FINAL_SEPTEMBER_2nd:TT Layout 17-Sep-13 11:36 AM

FINAL_SEPTEMBER_2nd:TT Layout 17-Sep-13 11:36 AM

It shows that theGovernment wants to play the role of a

catalyst andensure inte-

grated development of enabling infrastructurethrough effective partnerships with variousstakeholders. Chiranjeevi had invitedJapanese investors to look into this segment,as Japan Tourism prepares to organise a

Contd. on page 12

NewsBulletin

TT BU R E AU

K Chiranjeevi, Minister for Tourism, India had emphasisedthe need to develop mid-segment hotels in India. reports more on the recent development.

‘Invest in budget hotels’

There is good potential for budget hotels fortourists coming fromacross the world to India

ATF subsidy to up tourismSee full story on page 6

TRAVTALK TV was the talk of the town in Kochi, when it won an award of recognition at the Indian Association of Tour Operators’ (IATO) Convention-2013. ’s new TV initiative was awarded as it brings a newdawn in the industry.

1st award for TRAVTALK TV in its first monthThe New ‘Don’ in Town

K Chiranjeevi, Minister for Tourism, India

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SEPTEMBER 2ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013 TRAVTALK 1

There are reports in themedia everyday talk-ing about travellers

cancelling their internationaltrips due to the freefall of therupee, airlines increasingfares due to shooting ATFprices, Indian economy goingdown, etc. To provide reliefto cash-strapped airlineswhich are reeling under the

impact of the rupee slide andhike in crude prices, the CivilAviation Ministry of Indiawill continue to press thestate governments to reducetaxes on ATF. Industry lead-ers and experts expressedconcern over the rising costof operations of the airlineindustry, but cautioned it notto take ‘irrational steps’ likegetting into a price war, assuch a move would further

impact their financial bot-tom-line. However, the air-lines have already startedtaking steps to sustain dur-ing these tough times. Sinceair travel occupies a majorportion of the Indian out-bound and domestic travelpackages, overall price oftours has gone up.

On the other hand, tocope with the increasing tour

package costs; travellers areeither cutting short on theirholiday duration, adjustingwith their accommodationprice or opting for an Asian

country instead of Europe orUSA or even a luxuriousdomestic vacation.

Dollar appreciating, profits receding, airfares going high, andtravel industry dreading the ‘What if’ question. sharesstrategies ‘if ever’ another slowdown hits the market.

Contd. on page 24

Nikhil GanjuCountry Manager – India, TripAdvisor

Rajeev WagleMD, Kuoni India

AN I TA JA I N

Preparing for the big ‘What If?’

FINAL_SEPTEMBER_2nd:TT Layout 17-Sep-13 11:36 AM Page 1

BULLETIN

The Adventure TourOperators Association of

India (ATOAI) and IndiaTourism offices in USA and

Canada will host a five-cityroadshow for USA and Canadatour operators and travel pro-fessionals interested in learn-ing more about India’s widerange of travel options. Theroadshow will be attended byK Chiranjeevi, Minister ofState for Tourism, ChandanBrahma, Minister of Tourism,Assam and Girish Shankar,Additional Secretary, Ministryof Tourism.

The roadshow, which ison from October 2-10, willinvolve detailed presenta-tions by ATOAI and Ministryof Tourism and will form anideal platform for the international launch of the “777 Days of the IndianHimalayas” campaign. Some Himalayan state gov-ernments are expected to joinas well. The roadshow will beheld at Los Angeles onOctober 2, San Francisco on

October 3, Seattle on October7, Vancouver on October 8and Toronto on October 10.

It will also offer theopportunity for adventuretravel professionals to meet

and network with several ofIndia’s leading adventuretravel organisations, whileexploring India’s uniquemosaic of natural beauty, out-door activities, rich cultureand history. The India-basedtravel companies exhibitingat the roadshow are MercuryHimalayan Explorations, FarHorizon India, Kash VentureTravels, Luxury IndiaHolidays, Shikhar TravelsIndia, Banjara Camps &Retreats, Kalypso Adventuresand Royal Expeditions.

Speaking on the selec-tion of these cities, AkshayKumar, President, AdventureTour Operators Associationof India (ATOAI), said, “We chose these cities asthey are the best cities foradventure travel, mainlyWest Coast US and Canadawith Toronto thrown in.”

ATOAI, along with the India tourism offices, will host a five-city roadshowin USA and Canada from October 2-10, 2013. reports the scheduleof these roadhsows in West Coast US and Canadian cities.

MOT & ATOAI in USA & Canada

TT BUREAU

� The roadshow, which is onfrom October 2-10, willinvolve presentations byATOAI and MOT

� It will form an ideal platformfor the international launch of the ‘777 Days ofthe Indian Himalayas’campaign.

DetailsThe roadshows will be held on: October 2 : Los AngelesOctober 3: San Francisco October 7: Seattle October 8: Vancouver October 10: Toronto

The ‘777 Days ofthe IndianHimalayas’campaign willattract moreinternationaltourists andpromote India

K ChiranjeeviMinister for TourismIndia

We chose thesecities as they arethe best foradventure travel,mainly West CoastUS and Canadawith Torontothrown in

Akshay KumarPresident, Adventure Tour OperatorsAssociation of India (ATOAI)


TRAVTALK is a publication of DDP Publications Private Limited. Allinformation in TRAVTALK is derived from sources, which we consider reliable and a sincere effort is made to report accurate information. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. The publisher regret that he cannot accept liability for errors and omissions contained in this pub-lication, however caused. Similarly, opinions/views expressedby third parties in abstract and/or in interviews are not neces-sarily shared by TRAVTALK. However, we wish to advice our readersthat one or more recognised authorities may hold different viewsthan those reported. Material used in this publication is intendedfor information purpose only. Readers are advised to seek specific

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VIEWPOINT

The only industries that will probablygain from the devaluation of the rupee

are the inbound and domesticsectors, and hospitality, in

general. Although, withrising fuel price resulting

in costlier airfares, the picture looksquite bleak… but here we should applaudthe never-say-die approach of the Indiantraveller. They may change theirholiday/business plans from distant shoresto closer ones, especially domesticdestinations, but they will definitely takethat vacation they were planning.

The Indian domestic sector of thetourism industry must gear up and makethe most of this situation. Special innovativepackages should be planned with hotels, inall categories, car rental companies and busservices giving good rates to boost numbers.Incremental business is there for grabs ifhandled correctly and sensibly.

India just crossed the 1 billion mark in domestic travellers compared to the 1 billion mark crossed by global tourism. That is the potential of the Indiandomestic market!

The top five states in terms of numberof domestic tourist visits in 2012 (inmillions) were Andhra Pradesh (206.8),Tamil Nadu (184.1), Uttar Pradesh (168.4),Karnataka (94.1) and Maharashtra (66.3).What these states need to improve andwhat is required from other states to boostdomestic traffic is a subject to be discussedat all the tourism conclaves, includingMOT and FICCI’s Great Domestic Tourism Bazar, to be held on 27-29September 2013.

Corporate houses, like ONGC, are takingon heritage sites, to keep them clean andmaintained. This will greatly attract theinbound traffic to these cities. We need manymore organisations like these to take the onus on themselves and join the Clean India campaign.

Rupee fallboosts domestic

TIME MACHINE

British High Commission response to OTOAI

Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, Outbound Tour Operators Association of IndiaB-8 Aman Chambers, Main Pusa Road 47/21-22,Old Rajinder Nagar, New Delhi 110060

Thank you for your letter of 2 August, setting out your Association’s concerns about a possible bond scheme for certainapplicants for a UK visa. Much of the media reporting about this issue has been misleading or simply wrong. I welcome thechance to clarify matters. Britain is and will remain open: for business, for students, and for the hundreds of thousands ofIndian visitors and tourists who come to the UK every year.

We have an excellent visa service in India: 12 application centres (more than any other country), fast turnaround, and a positive approach: nine out of ten Indians who apply for a UK visa get one. And we are constantly seeking to improve our service, for example with the new same-day visa we launched recently: India is the first country in the worldwith this service. At the same time we are committed to tackling abuse of our immigration rules. As part of that, the UK gov-ernment is considering a pilot scheme which would test the impact of requiring a financial bond from certainvisa applicantsto deter them from overstaying their visa. No decisions have been taken on the details of how such a scheme would work.Any such scheme would be tightly targeted on a small number of visa applicants assessed as high risk, and designed in a waythat does not cut across the UK’s wish to remain open for business, students and tourists.

I should like to reassure you onthreefurther points. First, as we decide whether and if so how to take forward this scheme, we will take into careful consideration the concerns

that you and others have expressed. Second, once we have taken decisions, we will seek to inform you and others with aninterest quickly and clearly. Third, we greatly value the manyIndian tourists who come each year to the UK, and are keen toincrease further their numbers: we have no intention of placing obstacles in the way of legitimate visitors.

Let my conclude by saying how much wevalue the work which you and your members do to promote the UK as a destinationof choice. We remain committed to our partnership with you on this, and will continue to work with you to ensure it goes fromstrength to strength.

Sir James Bevan KCMG, British High Commissioner

The rapid strides made byGujarat in tourism and theirextremely progressive tourismpolicies can be a role model for tourism authorities in manyother states.

Having granted tourism thestatus of an industry quite sometimeback, Gujarat is way ahead of otherstates in selective privatization andincentives to entrepreneurs.They have differentincentives for differentformulated categories with asix year common period ofincentives. These are applicable tohotels, motels, amusement parks,ropeways and water sportsfacilities. The incentives areinclusive of varying exemptions onsales tax on cooked food, electricityduty and luxury tax. In some cases,there is a 100 per cent exemptionfrom entertainment tax for the firstsix years.

The areas for tourismpromotion and development havebeen identified and include placeson the coastline, places of historical,cultural and religious importance,hill stations and wildlife spots.These suggested areas includeDwarka, Palitana, Patna, Saputara,Pavagadh, Ahmedpur, Mandvi,Kutch Mandvi, Madhavpur,

Chanch, Ubhrat and Tithal. Effortsare also afoot to develop more fairsites. The fairs at Tarnetar Somnath,Bhavnath and the festivals likeInternational Kite Festival,Janmashtami, Navratri andMakarasakranti festivals are alreadyvery popular with tourists fromhome andabroad.

Gujarat has a vastheritage of places of religiousinterest like Somnath,Dwarka, Pavagadh, Palitana,Mahudi and Shankeswar-of greatimportance to Hindus and Jains. Ithas the longest coastline in India.Two excellent resorts have beenbuilt for sea lovers based on anerstwhile palaces at Chorward andAhmedpur Mandvi. Full advantageis being taken of the unique wildass sanctuary in Kutch and the

Sasan Gir Lion Sanctuary, theabode of the Asian Lion. Forwildlife enthusiasts there are alsoa great variety of birds and otheranimals. Porbandar is a greatattraction for tourists with its richtraditions of colourful textiles andhandicrafts, spanning hundreds ofyears and the tourism authoritiesare taking full advantage of thisaspect. Rural Gujarat is beingprojected through folk art,

dance and music. GujaratTourism’s plan appears tobe multi-pronged and very well conceived.

They have also decidedto go in for aggressivemarketing in various parts ofthe country. Not long ago, a

high level team from GujaratTourism had come to Calcuttato interact with central and

state tourism officials andrepresentatives of the tourismindustry. They came fully equippedwith attractive packages to woo thetourists from the eastern region and their packages included all budget levels and also an offerto tailor packages to suit therequirements of travel agents and individual clients/groups.Their dynamic efforts are bound tomake them one of the leadingstates in tourism.

Gujarat Tourism on the marchRajen Bali

, 23 years back, had featured a story on Gujarat Tourism. Even today, thestate continues to march forward with rising number of tourists.

November 1991 | Vol 1 | Issue 3 | Page 4


According to industry esti-mates, the travel insur-

ance business has beengrowing at about 12-15 per

cent annually for the pastdecade. However, for domes-tic travel, the figure stillstands in single digit figuresof five to eight per cent. Thus,

insuring domestic travellerswill be the next area of thrustfor tour operators and general insurance companies.

Currently, the insurers’travel portfolio primarily catersto international travellers fromthe country. Travel insurancein India is usually purchasedfor overseas travel. These

products cover claims arisingout of unforeseen incidents,including sudden medicalcosts, loss of baggage andpassport, among others.However, while medical costsincurred overseas are covered,individuals travelling abroadfor treatment is not coveredfor medical costs under a travel policy.

Talking about the potential of domestic travelinsurance, Rakesh Lamba,Chairman, Prakriti Holidaysfeels, “Following the recentfloods in Uttarakhand in whichthousands lost their lives, gen-eral insurance companies havehardly seen any claims relatedto medical emergencies. Thisis because the pilgrims were

mainly domestic travellers andIndians do not believe in tak-ing travel insurance, especiallyif they are travelling within thecountry. Even when travellingoverseas, most Indian trav-ellers take insurance only if itis mandatory. But given thesmall premium, it is alwaysadvisable to buy insurancewhile travelling within India

as well. Also, it is the travelagents who need to push theircustomers to buy travel insur-ance. Thus, it becomes vital for them to get updated on details.”

Affirming that domestictravel is an untapped marketwith huge potential, PPKhanna, Director, Diplomatic

Travel Point feels, “Lookingat the natural calamities suchas the one that happened inUttarakhand, it is mandatoryfor people travelling out ofstate to get their travel plansregistered and secure travelinsurance. Not just naturalcalamities, but even road

Travel insurance in India is usually purchased for overseas travel. However, going forward, tour operators andinsurance companies are looking to tap the domestic segment.

Insurance a must for domestic travelS E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 5ANALYSIS

MEGHA PAUL

Given the smallpremium, it is alwaysadvisable to buy insurancewhile travellingwithin India as well

Rakesh Lamba Chairman Prakriti Holidays

The segment fordomestictourism has justgrown five to tenper cent in ourcompany andmuch needs tobe done

PP Khanna Director Diplomatic Travel Point

Contd. on page 16


STATES

Projecting West Bengal as a unique travel destination,the travel industry gathered in full support at therecently organised Tourism Promotion Roadshow inDelhi hosted by the Department of Tourism,Government of West Bengal in collaboration with theConfederation of Indian Industry (CII). Excerpts:

ATF subsidy to up tourism

TT BUREAU

The recent pol-icy announcement ofthe state for reduc-tion of the Sales Taxon ATF will boostconnectivity to threeairports in WestBengal. To encour-age more flights,enhance business opportunities and pro-mote tourism, the state will not levy salestax on fuel sold from Durgapur, CoochBehar and Bagdogra airports for the nextthree years. Also, there will be a 50 percent rebate on tax on additional ATF soldto any airline from the Kolkata airport. Thestate government has increased itstourism budget to ` 120 crore from ` 36 crore. Last year, West Bengal received24 million tourists.

— Krishnendu Narayan ChoudharyMinister-in-charge of Tourism

West Bengal

Reduction of sales tax on ATF

The state isplanning to developnumerous tourismprojects on Public-Private Partnership(PPP) mode likeGajoldoba TourismHub, Sylee TeaTourism, KolkataGiant Wheel, Jharkhali in the Sunderbans,River Cruise in West Bengal, etc. The Gajoldoba Tourism Hub is being structured as an integrated multi-product tourism park in the Dooars inNorth Bengal. This project is a part of theTera-Dooars Forest Circuit giving thetourists an opportunity to experiencewildlife tourism here. The projectedinvestment of this project is about ` 1,500 crore.

— Vikram SenPrincipal Secretary Tourism

West Bengal

Wildlife in focus

On 29 May this year, I attended the meeting that was chairedby the CM and her team. We discussed how to boost tourism in thestate post the opening of the new international wing at the KolkataAirport. Despite this new wing, the Kolkata airport was not receivingmany international airlines. Post the meeting, the West Bengal gov-ernment reduced the Sales Tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel after receiv-ing a request from IATO. This is indeed a brilliant step and will go along way in making Bengal a much-sought after destination in the country.

– Subhash Goyal, President, IATO

IATO welcomes sales tax cut on ATF

There is immense potential in the region and thus, last year,ADTOI also launched its West Bengal and North-East chapter to pro-mote the region. The state should aggressively promote its uniqueproducts such as Durga Puja carnival along with various tourismattractions and activities in the state.

— PP Khanna, Vice President, ADTOI

Durga Puja Carnival should be promoted

Officials of West Bengal Tourism along with the WB Tourism Minister and leaders of the travel trade industry at the recentlyconducted road show in Delhi.

See more pictures on pg 12


In the fast changing globaltravel industry, travellers

preferences have alsochanged. According toNajeeb, the most prominenttravel attraction has alwaysbeen the sun, sand and theblue sea. But more than thatthe visitors look for experien-tial tours that give a feel ofIndia to them.

“Specially - designedexperiential programmes are

the thread of tourism prod-ucts new-age travellers lookfor. Tourists look for more ofparticipatory experiences atthe places they visit. They arekeen on the body, mind andsoul programmes includingyoga, meditation and ayurve-da. The greenery and thebeautiful nature of Keralawith its backwaters, beaches,spice plantations, and thehills and traditional home-stays make it an irresistibleattraction for them,” said Najeeb.

“Medical tourism is on the increase as peoplelook for world-class treat-ment at modern hospitals atcompetitive prices. MICEtourism is also on the rise,and almost all new hotelscoming up have conferenceand convention facilities.History, heritage and culturealso are in good demand,” he added.

Najeeb is also prompt tohighlight statistics, whichpoint out that Kerala wit-nessed 7.93 lakh Foreign

Tourist Arrivals in 2012, and1.01 crores domestic touristsin 2012. There is consistentgrowth in the tourist arrivalsto Kerala and foreignexchange earnings had gone up to ` 4,550 crores in2012. The total tourismreceipts in the state amountsto ` 21,125 crores.

“We are going strong,developing new products,new markets, and addressingthe challenges. Our targetsand expectations are in syncwith the national trend ofgrowth and targets. We lookfor all opportunities toexpand our market share andto improve visitor satisfac-

tion. The world is goingthrough a period of fast evolution in all fields, includ-ing tourism,” said Najeeb.

“The patterns of theindustry are changing day-by-day redefining therole of the stakeholders and players. The introduc-tion of technology is revo-

lutionising the pattern ofbusiness and philosophy somuch in tourism. New products and services arecoming up every now andthen. Tour operators have tokeep themselves trendy,adaptable, innovative andsuccessful in this process,”he added.

EM Najeeb, Managing Director, Air Travel Enterprises, says the pattern of the industry is changing day-by-day, redefining the role of the stakeholders and players.

‘Tourists seek participatory experiences’

TT BUREAU

S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 7STATES

Our targets andexpectationsare in sync withthe nationaltrend of growthand targets.We look for allopportunities toexpand ourmarket share

E M NajeebManaging DirectorAir Travel Enterprises

� Kerala witnessed over7.93 lakh Foreign TouristArrivals in 2012

� It also saw 1.01 croredomestic tourists in thesame period

In Numbers


STATES8 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

The introduction of Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) facility

at Thiruvananthapuram andKochi airports marks a newchapter for Kerala Tourism,which has already carved

an important place in theglobal tourism map.

As per AP Anil Kumar,Minister for Tourism, Kerala,“We believe the VoA schemewill help Kerala Tourismachieve its target of 30 lakhforeign tourist arrivals by2021,” Kumar said. Keralarecorded 7,89,698 foreigntourist arrivals in 2012 and

the foreign exchange earn-ings touched `4,548 crores.

Chief MinisterOommen Chandy, AnilKumar, V S Sivakumar,Minister for Health, Keralaand senior officials includingSuman Billa, Secretary,

Kerala Tourism, SHarikishore, Director,Kerala Tourism and VNChandran, Director,ThiruvananthapuramAirport reviewed arrange-ments at the special VoAcounter which became oper-ational on August 15 at theThiruvananthapuramInternational Airport on 28August 2013. A roughly 250

sq ft holding area has beenset aside in the Immigrationsection and the exclusivevisa desks are manned byIntelligence Bureau officials.VoA was rolled out in thefirst phase in Delhi,Mumbai, Kolkata andChennai. Two other airports

that got VoA facility in thesecond phase are Bengaluruand Hyderabad. Kerala isalso the only state to havetwo airports offering theservice. VoA is currentlyavailable for citizens of 11countries-Japan, Singapore,Finland, Luxembourg, NewZealand, the Philippines,Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam,Myanmar and Indonesia.

“These countries are mar-kets where Kerala Tourismsees vast potential and isbeginning to make signifi-cant inroads.

For instance, the touristarrivals from Japan rose byaround 56% in five years to11,440 in 2012; and thearrivals from Finland more than doubled over the periodto 5,160 last year. Touristarrivals from countries such

as New Zealand, Singaporeand the Philippines havesimilarly risen between 75%and 90% since 2008.

The VoA facility hasbeen a long-standingdemand from KeralaTourism and now, weintend to take fulladvantage of it,” saidAnil Kumar.

“We are especially thankful to the CentralGovernment and UnionMinisters from Kerala,including MullapallyRamachandran and KCVenugopal, for bringing thisservice here. TheDepartment of Tourism will take our campaign tothese countries. We will take part in travel fairs and take our roadshowsthere,” he added.

Kerala will publicise the VoA facility for 11 countries which are already enjoying the benefits of this scheme.It will take part in travel fairs and roadshows to tell travellers how convenient visiting Kerala is.

Eyeing 3 million foreign tourists by 2021

VIVEK SETHI

Oommen ChandyChief MinisterKerala

AP Anil KumarMinister for Tourism Kerala

Suman BillaSecretary Kerala Tourism

VoA facility launched at Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airportsThe introduction of VoA facility atThiruvananthapuram and Kochiairports marks a new chapter forKerala Tourism and will help attractmore foreign visitors to the state,Chief Minister Oommen Chandysaid recently. The Chief Minister,accompanied by Minister forTourism AP Anil Kumar, Ministerfor Health V S Sivakumar and sen-ior officials, reviewed arrange-ments at the special VoA counterwhich became operational onAugust 15.


STATES

With an aim to offer moretourist circuits to

inbound and domestictourists during the KumbhMela in 2015 in the state, Maharashtra TourismDevelopment Corporation(MTDC) has chalked out a ` 317.50-crore plan to boosttourism in the Nashik rev-enue division. The state gov-ernment has approved theplan, which will promotetourism in NorthMaharashtra. Of the totalfund of ` 317.50 crore, ` 126 crore has been sanc-tioned for various tourismprojects in Nashik district, ` 46 crore for Dhule, ` 36crore for Jalgaon, ` 57 crorefor Ahmednagar and ` 52crore for Nandurbar districts.

Talking about the same,Jagdish Patil, MD, MTDCsaid, “Apart from developingthe Konkan region for beachtourism, we are also develop-ing other regions to bring invariety of tourism products inthe offing. One of the recentplans approved by the stategovernment is Nashik circuit.We will develop an adventuresports complex and are inprocess of building aConvention Centre for MICEfacilities. The convention

centre will be built throughcentral government financialassistance and would offerstate-of-the-art internationalstandard facilities for MICEevents. We are also going to develop the wine tourismcircuit in Nashik district. With these new develop-ments, we are looking atdeveloping Nashik as a complete tourist destinationfor adventure, leisure andMICE visitors.”

Additionally, the planwill include development ofprojects like the Gangapur

dam, the Someshwar temple,the Godavari river andGodavari Kund. The Jyotirlingtemple, Teertha Kund, PrayagTeerth, Srikeshtra Kapildhara,Anjaneri, the Dugarwadiwaterfall, Bhatsa and Darnadams and Vani have beenincluded in the plan forTrimbakeshwar. In Igatpuri,the Ghatandevi temple andKavnai temple and theVipassana Meditation Centreare to be developed.Bhandardara, Kalsubai tem-ple, Shirdi, Puntamba,Nevasa, Devgad, Navnath,Mohatadevi and ShaniShignapur will be developedin Ahmednagar.

"People who visit Nashikalso visit these places. Duringthe Kumbh Mela, which willtake place in Nashik andTrimbakeshwar, many pil-grims will also visit Igatpuri,Vani, Shirdi, Bhandardara andother places. Developingthese places as tourist desti-nations will boost tourism inthe region," adds Patil. Thestate tourism board is alsoleveraging various fairs andfestivals of the state to createa year-round calendar whichis promoted among Indianand global travel trade andtravellers. The board organ-ises fests on the sidelines ofthese events to boost tourism,few of them being –Elephanta Festival (February),Chikoo Festival (March),Turtle Festival (April),Govinda Festival (August) and Diwali (October-November).It now intends to organise aStrawberry Festival in thestate during April.

The state government has approved ̀ 317.5 crore planto boost tourism in the Nashik region…

Nashik for tourists

TT BUREAU

We are going to develop the winetourism circuitin Nashik,along withadventure,leisure & MICE

Jagdish PatilMDMTDC

In a bid to revamp the inef-ficient licensing process

in the state currently, the Maharashtra TourismDevelopment Corporation(MTDC) has appointed con-sultancy firm Accenture towork on the number oflicenses needed for hotels,the departments involvedand also help MTDC design a single-window clearancesystem for the whole process.

Jagdish Patil, ManagingDirector, MTDC said, “Inmany of our meetings andconversations with the hos-pitality industry in the state,they highlighted the difficul-ties they were facing withregard to licenses. Therefore,

we decided to appointAccenture to review the cur-rent licensing procedure andto make recommendations onhow the process can be mademore efficient.”

Patil added, “Accenturewill look at the possibility ofsome licenses as deemed tobe approved until there is aviolation. They will also re-examine 50-60 year old Acts

and give suggestions on cre-ation of one master form thatwill collect all the informationand share it with multiplegovernment departments.The various issues beingexperienced currently aredue to the lack of an integrat-ed platform. Additionally,Accenture will also attempt to identify a nodal body to handle thelicensing process.”

Once the recommenda-tions are made by Accenture,MTDC aims to launch anonline single-window clear-ance system for the hospital-ity industry on its own web-site. Patil informed that theMTDC was targetting the endof this year for the launch ofthe system.

The consultancy firm will aid the state tourism board insetting up an online single window clearance system.

MTDC appoints Accenture

LYANDRA D’SOUZA

� The Gangapur dam

� Someshwar temple

� Godavari Kund

� Durgawadi waterfalls

Project Highlights

� The Maharashtra TourismDevelopment Corporationis targetting the end of thisyear to launch the singlewindow clearance systemfor hotels in the state

Long Overdue


Oden: (When askedabout the effect of thefalling rupee) Luckily,

people had already made theirbookings before the slide of therupee, so we did not see a dropin tourists this summer. Now,we are working very hard,along with the Indian travelagents, to introduce new pack-ages, a new promotion - BeThere! Do That! - roadshows,sales visits to various smaller

cities in India, like Chandigarh,Ludhiana in the North andHyderabad, Mysore, Kochi inthe South, along with Mumbaiand Delhi. Our aim with theroadshows is to give the visit-ing professionals a broaderperspective of the Indian mar-ket through meetings and net-working, so they can under-stand the potential of India asan important tourist market forFrance. It also helps growinbound tourism for India. Wetook some of the delegates ona Bollywood tour in Mumbai,acquainting them with studiovisits and other facets of themovie making industry forFrench tourists coming toIndia. Wine tourism is pickingup in a big way. In recentyears, the number of Indiansopting for specific wine toursin France is steadily increasingand a growing number oftourists like to visit a wineregion during their holidays.Today’s discerning Indian vis-itors are ready to experimentand create a different holidayexperience of their own. Wehave seen a growing demandfor specific wine itinerariesfrom travel agents and direct

clients alike. It is also encour-aging to note that many travelcompanies are actively pro-moting the concept of winetours in this market.

The demand for easierprocesses for visas has beenaccepted by the French

Government to encourageIndian tourists to visit France.Visa process for studentstravelling to France hasbecome easier. France alsoannounced many India-spe-cific measures easing visanorms for those wanting topursue higher education.

talks to Patricia Barthelemy, Marketing Manager,Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau and Catherine Oden,Director, Atout France India to know the NTO’s plans.

France welcomes Indians with open arms

DEEPA SETHI

NTO S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 1 1

We are workingvery hard,along with theIndian travelagents, tointroduce new packages

Catherine OdenDirector Atout France India

Barthelemy: We like Indian tourists because they liketo walk and see places. Some roads and bridges along

the Seine River have been converted into walking zones.The famous museums and buildings are lit up everyevening. Days are being earmarked to make Paris a funcity late into the night. There are other places around Paris,less than an hour away, for out-of-the-ordinary experi-ences, where you can go ballooning, paragliding, rockclimbing, rafting and so much more. The FrenchGovernment is doing a lot to promote tourism, both leisureand MICE. There are new activities coming up so often.For example, every Friday evening, there is a music festivalin different areas of Paris. The streets close down to trafficand people can enjoy the music, festivities and food.

Patricia BarthelemyMarketing ManagerParis Convention and Visitors Bureau


FAMILY ALBUM1 2 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Roadshow for Durga Puja CarnivalThe recently organised Tourism Promotion roadshow in Delhi was hosted by the Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal incollaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry. The roadshow, held at the Ashok Hotel, New Delhi, witnessed many stakeholders fromthe travel and hotel industries amid a grand cultural rendezvous.

Contd. from page 6

All for promoting bilaterial tourismworld-class two-day India-Japan Tourism Expo in NewDelhi from 13-17 January,2014. “There is good poten-tial for budget hotels fortourists coming from acrossthe world to India,” said

Chiranjeevi at a recent meet-ing held in New Delhibetween him and HiroshiKajiyama, Japanese SeniorVice Minister of Land,Infrastructure, Transport andTourism. In fact, India andJapan have resolved tostrengthen cooperation in

the tourism sector and move further on signing anMoU to promote bilateraltourism relations.

Chiranjeevi alsoinformed his Japanesecounterpart about themeasures being taken to

improve Golf Tourism andMICE Tourism in India,which can attract toJapanese tourists and businessmen. He also invited Japan to invest in the affordable hotel sector where India has liberalised the FDI

route. Echoing similar sentiments, Kajiyama said“The proposal for invest-ments in the budget hotelsector could form a part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)between the two countries.Two Japanese airlines are

operating daily flightsbetween India and Japan,which is an indication of thegravity of tourist trafficbetween countries. Japanhas set for itself a target of attracting 10 million visitors from across theworld to Japan.”

Contd. from page 1


1 4 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 ASSOCIATIONS

The IATO theme ‘Innovations and Partnerships’ states what is needed to jump-start and invigorate the state of thetravel agents in India, feel the IATO Chapter Chairmen of various states. Here are a few excerpts from what they said:

IATO Theme summarises agents’ needs

The security for women touristsis the first issue that needs to betackled. With the recurring rapecases, inbound has been impactedin recent times. So this situationhas to be resolved to boost ourtourism potential. Also, politicalagitations in the country, especially in Andhra Pradesh,Darjeeling and Srinagar need to be curbed. These are areaswhich can tap a lot of inbound.

C Nagendra PrasadChairman, IATO Tamil Nadu Chapter

The theme is most relevant andprobably the only solution to putIndian tourism on the path ofrapid growth. Through sustain-able partnerships amongst various stakeholders, we canrealise the huge employmentand economic potential that tourism offers for our ever-growing population.

Sunil C Gupta ChairmanIATO Uttar Pradesh Chapter

Innovations and partnerships arethe only two ways to survive inthe present competitive market.This creates a new hype in themarket, where stakeholders orpartners support you. Going for-ward, the tour operators need toget educated and updated on how to create new destinationswith the partnership of state governments. It is very impor-tant that our B2B community keeps creating new products.

The greatest challenge now is topromote and increase inboundtourism, which has been almoststatic for many years in spite ofattractive sites and facilities ofthe international standards avail-able in the country. There are new trends being witnessedin the industry, which show that the sector is evolving. Thelarge ‘group tour’ business is now replaced by smaller groupsand more FITs.

Bhim Singh ChairmanIATO Rajasthan Chapter

I feel the convention is reallytimed right. Margins are shrink-ing and if one wants to excel, then‘innovation’ is the only way for-ward or otherwise, the marketforces would throw you out ofbusiness. ‘Partnerships’ are likepillars for any business and one should try and build on itover the years. We wish some steps are taken on a war foot-ing, so that border taxes are paid online and free flow oftourist vehicles across borders becomes a reality.

The theme ‘Innovations &Partnerships’ has been chosen toemphasise that new partnershipsin the Indian travel trade will onlyinnovate, if the partnershipsthemselves are innovative. It isimportant to have innovativepartnerships to bring small stake-holders in the industry up to thesame platform as others. And once the requirements of thesesmall stakeholders are met, it will lead to an all-roundgrowth of the industry.

Ramesh WattalCommittee Member, IATO

Harihar PatraMember, IATO Tour GuideRelations Committee

Rakesh Chopra Chairman IATO Madhya Pradesh Chapter


AVIATION1 6 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

After a long break of over16 years, the flagship

carrier of India has restoredits direct non-stop flight toAustralia. Air India com-menced its daily non-stopoperations using state-of-the

art Dreamliner, which willgive travellers to reachMelbourne directly four times

a week and to Sydney threetimes a week.

“The Air India flight willopen many new vistas fortourism and hospitality indus-try. We have designed theflight in such a manner thatpeople from all over Indiacould reach Delhi convenient-ly to be able to catch our nonstop flight to Australia. Atpresent, the non-stop flightconnects Delhi to Melbournefour times a week and toSydney three times a week.

The travellers will reach theirchosen destination inAustralia early in the morningand hence will have an entireday at their disposal,” saidRohit Nandan, CMD, AirIndia.

“Going forward, we arehopeful that the results of thefirst phase of connectingAustralia will lead us toenhance our connectivity insuch a manner that there is adaily flight to Melbourne and Australia.

We have already signeda seat-sharing agreementwith one of the leading play-ers in the Australian market.In fact, we are also looking towork with more strategicpartners,” he added.

There is more goodnews in the offing for stake-holders in the travel andtourism sector, who had beenwaiting for Air India to revivethis route. “We are keen tostart a new connection toItaly and connect Rome andFrance by 2013-end. Theyear 2014 will soon witnessa flight to Moscow,” saidNandan.

“Today, Air India is achanged entity, if one looksat the sense of devotion ofstaff and the aggressivenessto grow. Our on-time per-formance today is at parwith the best in the domesticand even in the internationalsphere,” he added.

The airline has started a direct service to Australia which will connectDelhi to Melbourne four times a week and to Sydney three times a week…

Keen on boosting Oz connection

TT BUREAU

The airline is also lookingat all possibilities to

aggressively tap the burgeoning MICE marketfrom India. Duncan Bureau,Senior Vice President GlobalSales & Distribution MalaysiaAirlines was in New Delhi tointeract with select media.“We are pleased to bring ourservice to Kochi. We will beoperating Kuala Lumpur-Kochi route on the new andimproved 160-seater B737-800. The B737-800 aircraftwith a configuration of 16business and 144 Economyseats, will provide premiumtravel experience with on-

demand in-flight entertain-ment system at every seat,”said Bureau.

“Kochi will be agreat addition to thedestinations offeredby Malaysia Airlinesvia oneworldalliance.

The daily Kochi flightwill depart Kuala Lumpur at10.30pm and arrive in theIndian city at 12.01am thenext day. The return serviceleaves Kochi at 12.50am andarrives in Kuala Lumpur at7.40am,” he added. Bureaualso shared his opinion on the

various aspects includingfluctuation in the Indian cur-rency and the economic sce-nario in general. According tohim, “There isuncertaintyin the globaleconomy.However,MalaysiaAirlines iscom-

mitted to the India market,where we will keep investingfurther.”

“We operate in manymarkets, which had seensteep movements in theirnational currencies. Japan isone such example. On thewhole, we are bullish on theIndian growth story.Moreover, we work with trav-el agents on performance

linked basis,” he added.

Going forward,Bureau added thatMalaysia Airlines nowwill aggressively lookinto promoting MICEfrom India.

Malaysia Airlines, starting from September 2013, launched its inauguralservice on the Kuala Lumpur-Kochi route.

Now, Kuala Lumpur to Kochi

Duncan Bureau, Senior Vice President Global Sales & Distribution Malaysia Airlines

Rohit NandanCMDAir India

accidents have now becomemore frequent.” With a boomin intra-state and inter-statetravel, travellers usuallymight take their own cars onthe highways. “When youtake travel insurance, itinsures you against possibleroad accidents as well.However, we see that thesegment for domestic tourismhas just grown five to ten percent in our company andmuch needs to be done,” headds. According to Khanna,there is minimal domesticinsurance in the leisure, FITand family travel segment.

Feels Harjinder Singh,Proprietor, Odyssey Tours,“Now even tour operatorsand transporters feel the riskinvolved while travellingdomestic. Big transport companies are insuring theirdrivers as well. In our com-pany, we have seen a 20 percent increase in domestictravel insurance and 70 percent increase in travel insur-ance for the Far East compa-nies. The challenge in pro-moting the need for domestictravel cover is the fact that

there is lack of knowledge inthis domain. Thus, travelagents need to come forward and push their clientele tobuy the cover.”

We have seen a20% increase indomestic travelinsurance and70% increase intravel insurancefor the Far Eastcompanies

Harjinder SinghProprietorOdyssey Tours

Have a safe journeyContd. from page 5

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MINTCENTIVE wins laurelsMINTCENTIVE has won the

Most Creative DMC award in Indiaas a part of the Annual MICE ReportAwards 2013. This award has beenconferred by The MICE Report. TheMICE Report is the official mediapartner for IMEX Frankfurt, IMEXLas Vegas and EIBTM.

Sanjay Malhotra, Senior VicePresident, MINTCENTIVE whilethanking the readers who voted forthe company, said, “I am absolutelyelated that MINTCENTIVE has beenvoted as the most creative DMC inIndia. It is most humbling and grat-ifying to know that end-users andsuppliers have voted for us.”

Arjun Sharma, ManagingDirector, Le Passage to India Tours& Travels said, “Even as difficulttimes descend on us, the MICE sec-tor will continue to evolve. Theremay be changes in the packaging ofthe content-the meetings may get

smaller, nearer home; but will happen nevertheless. DMCs neednot be threatened by technology as their roles will be bigger andbetter defined.

Arjun SharmaManaging Director, Le Passage to India Tours & Travels

Sanjay MalhotraSenior Vice PresidentMINTCENTIVE


NTO

Germany currently ranksNo 2 for people travelling

to Europe, after UK. Boostingthe India growth story,German Tourism will conductits annual roadshow in Indiain November this year. Thethree-city road show will beorganised in Delhi, Mumbaiand Bengaluru, starting fromNovember 24. Around 15 sup-pliers comprising hotels, des-tinations and tour operatorsare expected to participate inthe roadshow. This wasrevealed by Romit Theophilus,Director – Sales & Marketing,German National TouristOffice (GNTO) during therecently-concluded GermanyIndia Pool roadshow in NewDelhi. The event, which is partof GNTO’s sales activity week2013, was organised with theidea of facilitating interactionson the latest updates, high-lights and attractions for theIndian travellers betweenIndia Pool members and theIndian travel trade. The IndiaPool members who participat-ed in the roadshow includedSaxony Tourism, the associa-tion of Magic Cities, Baden-Baden, Alpha TravelConsultants, Cologne Tourism,Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn.

Talking about thechanging perception ofGermany among outboundtravellers from India, heopines, “The image ofGermany as a business andtrade fair destination ischanging rapidly. Of late, there has been atremendous growth in

leisure and incentive travel.We are also seeing a lot of student traffic fromIndia to Germany to visitindustries there.”

According toTheophilus, GNTO stronglybelieves in the India growthstory and is looking at a sig-nificant market share out ofpotential 50 million out-bound travellers by 2020.“Our growth in terms ofIndian arrivals over the pastfive years has been consistently good. The 2012figures stood at 584,508overnights which was about six per cent higher than 2011.

India is one of the mostimportant source marketsfor Germany. The Jan-April2013 Indian visitor arrivalfigures recorded 174,128overnights, which is anincrease from the 172,746overnights recorded duringthe same period last year.The ratio of leisure versusbusiness tourist is about40:60,” he confirms. Despitethe rupee slide affectingoutbound to Germany, hebelieves Germany has faredbetter than many otherEuropean destinations.

The 3-city roadshow will be organised in Delhi,Mumbai and Bengaluru, from Nov 24. Around 15 suppliers are expected to participate in the roadshow.

India roadshow by GNTO

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The ratio of leisureversus businesstourist is about40:60, makingIndia one of themost importantsource markets

Romit TheophilusDirector – Sales & Marketing German National Tourist Office (GNTO)

In order to boostSingapore’s position as a

destination for corporateincentive groups, theSingapore Tourism Board(STB) has launched a first-of-its-kind reward programmein the Indian market called InSingapore Incentives &Rewards (INSPIRE) pro-gramme. Targetted at theMICE outbound segmentfrom India, the programme isa partnership between STB

and its trade partners such asChangi Airport Group,Gardens by the Bay, ResortsWorld Sentosa, SentosaLeisure Group, Singapore

Airlines, Singapore TurkClub, and Wildlife ReservesSingapore.

Chang Chee Pey,Executive Director, SouthAsia, Middle East and Africa,STB said, “Despite tough

times being faced by theindustry; incentive travel willstill be very important, andwith the depreciation of therupee, we feel that moreMICE travel will turn toSingapore. With the short-haul flights, value-for-moneyand complimentary traveldeals that we are offering, wehope to see more incentivetravel from India toSingapore. Through this pro-gramme, for a minimum of1,000 visitor nights, incen-tive groups looking for some-thing different can havebespoke experiences amidstworld-class attractions.” TheINSPIRE rewards programmewill include complimentaryincentive experiences such asDinner Lunch at FlowerDome (Gardens by the Bay)or Wildlife High TeaEncounter at Singapore Zoo,special guided tours atSingapore Turf Club andSentosa among others.

The Singapore Tourism Board has launched a first-of-its-kind reward programme in the Indian market calledIn Singapore Incentives & Rewards Programme.

Incentives for Indian outbound

TT BUREAU

Chang Chee PeyExecutive Director, South AsiaMiddle East and Africa� Incentive groups travelling

no later than December31, 2014 and staying atleast 1,000 visitor nightsare eligible to apply for theINSPIRE programme.Applications are openfrom August 1, 2013 toJuly 31, 2014

Cashing In


CRUISES1 8 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Study says over eight outof 10 tourists in Asia are

interested in cruise tourism.

This includes 42 per centaffluent and 54 per centultra-affluent people. Theyare primarily keen to travelwithin India, because of cul-tural proximity. The growth

rate of cruise tourism is veryhigh in South-East Asia.Interestingly, the currentcruise tourism is predomi-nantly mixed with land-based tourism products like shopping, city tours, and amusement parks.“Tourists are opting forcruise as a value-for money,comfort and experience,”said Leong.

Leong has firm beliefthat India will be able toposition itself a viable cruisetourism hub thanks to itshuge coast line, number ofaffluent people (for outboundtourism) and lucrative land-based tourism products (forinbound tourism). “However,the country is laggingbehind, because of theabsence of basic infrastruc-ture. The government ofIndia should put seriousthought in this regard. ACA

is in the process of dialoguewith the Government ofIndia. We are conveying themessage from our membershipping-lines to them thatsome of our members arewilling to make direct calls atIndian ports, provided

proper infrastructure is avail-able with a clear and cruise tourism-friendly poli-cy,” said Leong.

Formed in 2009, theobjective of ACA is to pro-mote cruise tourism across

the region. It is a key repre-sentative association for thecruise industry in Asia. “ACAserves as a non-partisan plat-form for cruise industrystakeholders to engage eachother on cruise matters withthe goal of promoting cruise

tourism in Asia,” Leongunderlined. Currently, ACAhas 12 members that includeA Passenger Bill of Rights,Azamara Club Cruises,Carnival Australia, CelebrityCruises, Costa Cruises SPA,Holland America Line, MSCCruises, Cruises & CunardLine, Royal CaribbeanInternational, SeabournCruise Line, Silversea Cruisesand Star Cruises.

In view of emerging customer demands for cruise tourism in South and South-East Asia, the Asia Cruise Association (ACA)recently met trade practitioners in Mumbai and Delhi to make them aware of current trends. Kevin Leong, General Manager,ACA spoke to on the prerequisites to harness opportunities.

ACA urges for better cruise infrastructure

RATAN KR PAUL

Kevin Leong General ManagerACA

Key objectives of ACA

For its third season inSouth Africa (SA),

Europe-based MSC Cruiseswill have MSC Opera andMSC Sinfonia sailing fromNovember 2013 – March2014. The ships will have awide spectrum of itinerariesranging from 2 nights to 5nights starting from Durbanand Cape Town and coveringvarious African countries likeKenya, Nairobi, Mozambiqueand popular points withinSouth Africa.MSC alsoannounced the arrival of MSCLirica to Dubai for its winterroutes from November 2013to March 2014. The ship willhave one-week itinerariesstarting from Dubai, coveringAbu Dhabi and Oman. TheMSC Divina, the biggest andone of the newest ships in theMSC Fleet, will be positionedin Miami next year. The shipwill cover both the Westernand Eastern Caribbean in dif-ferent itineraries to cover

points in Puerto Rico,Bahamas, Jamaica, Mexico,Cayman islands etc. Thisinformation was shared byAmit Mathur, Country Head– India, MSC Cruises.

Talking about the poten-tial of the cruise segment,Mathur said, “Cruising is stillat a nascent stage in India.While the impact of thedepreciation of the rupee as

compared to the dollar andthe economic slowdown willdefinitely have an impact, inthe long term, I expect thecruise market in India toboom as travellers gainawareness about cruising asa holiday option.” He added,“MSC Cruises is already very popular in the Indianmarket for its Mediterraneancruises as well as itsScandinavian cruises.”

MSC Cruises plans totarget incentive groups andfamilies from the Indian mar-ket. Mathur explained, “Allthree itineraries are well suited to meet the needs and demands of Indian incentive travellers.

With children-freepolicy, Indian meals on board and a Mediterraneanstyle of cruising, we expect to do very well on thenewly-introducedroutes.

MSC’s Triple Bonanzaoffer also makes it muchmore attractive to book acruise. Under the offer, thetraveller receives a 50% dis-count on companion, anadded On-Board CruiseCredit of upto USD 100 percabin and children sail free.”Outlining their marketingstrategy, he said, “We willwork with MICE agents to tapthe incentive segment.Additionally, we will alsowork on raising the aware-ness of the travel trade aboutMSC Cruises and its offer-ings. The company will alsowork with the destinationtourism boards to promoteour itineraries.”

MSC Cruises has so far been seeing a good demand from India for its Mediterranean and Scandinavian cruise itineraries.

Cruise to SA, Dubai, Miami

� Promoting the interest of cruise lines

� Lobby the support ofgovernments and cruiseindustry stakeholders to build acruise-friendly environment in Asia

Amit MathurCountry Head – IndiaMSC Cruises

TT BUREAU

Italian cruise companyCosta Cruises has

strengthened its offerings forthe Indian market by offeringvariety of sailings in the FarEast, onboard Costa Victoriaand Costa Atlantica.

Nalini Gupta, ManagingDirector, Costa Cruises Indiasaid, “The itineraries willdepart from Singapore,Shanghai and Hong Kong andwill give Indian travellers theopportunity to discoverSingapore, Malaysia, Thailand,Vietnam, Korea and Hong

Kong. Costa provides anextensive network to exoticdestinations, has an impecca-ble product, world-class enter-tainment and has deep insightof customer service. The mar-ket has a lot of potential andwith the phenomenal air con-nectivity to the Far East, weare extremely bullish aboutcruising in India.”

Costa Cruises India isalso working extensively withthe Indian travel trade. The

cruise company has been con-ducting training programmesand workshops for travelagents and tour operators inmetros and Tier II across thecountry. Costa Cruises is also working with tourismboards such as the SingaporeTourism Board, Hong KongTourism Board and the ItalianTourism Board to encouragesailings and footfalls in various destinations.

Gupta added,“Additionally, the number oftravel agents connected withus this year has grown expo-nentially. We have seen somesuperb numbers in summerand this excites us.

We are keen to tapthe families and wedding segmentfrom the Indian market as well as theMICE segment.”

Costa Cruises has doubled its presence in the Far Eastand will offer travellers cruises covering Malaysia,Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

More for the Indian market

Nalini Gupta Managing DirectorCosta Cruises India

TT BUREAU

� Under the offer, the travellerreceives a 50% discounton companion, an addedOn-Board Cruise Credit ofupto USD 100 per cabinand children sail free

Triple Bonanza

� This year, Costa’scapacity in the region hasdoubled (+112%), thanksto the arrival in May 2013of the Costa Atlantica(2,680 passengers)

Carrying Capacity

Jet’s second service from Mumbai to Singapore from Nov 1The new Jet Airways service, flight 9W 010 will depart Mumbai daily at 0950 hrs (Local Time)and arrive Singapore at 1800 hrs (Local Time). On the return, flight 9W 009 will depart Singaporeat 2005 hrs (Local Time) and arrive in Mumbai at 2310 hrs (Local Time).


SPECIAL FEATURE2 0 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

The 8th Annual UNIGLOBERegional Conference and

Excellence Awards were con-ducted recently at theFairmont Hotel. Themed‘Leading the Way!’ the his-toric city of Jaipur, famous forits legendary Rajput leaders,played host to this year’s edi-tion of the conference. Withover 250 UNIGLOBE Travelprofessionals attending,insightful education sessions and entertainment packedevenings, the two-day con-ference turned out to be agreat event celebrating lead-ership, best practices, newtechnology solutions and thespirit of Jaipur! UNIGLOBETravel (South Asia) whichwas recently awarded theMost Preferred Operator forBusiness Travel at the CNBCAwaaz Travel Award 2013,organizes the conferenceevery year to support inter-agency networking, profes-sional development and tobuild relationships with each other and with key sup-pliers from the South Asianregion, as well as other partsof the globe.

Says Michelle Desreux,COO and Executive Director,UNIGLOBE Travel (SouthAsia), “Our theme for thisyear, ‘Leading the Way!’ high-lights the vital importance oftaking a leadership attitudein responding to the manychanges that are occurring in

our industry and the market-place- to focus on solutionsthat help businesses thrive.Throughout the conference,travel professionals learnedtips and techniques for gain-ing more sales and enhancingrevenues. They also learnedhow the latest, super fastand efficient UNIGLOBEagent desktop tools willenable them to deliver world-class client services in record time.”

Corporate clients expectthe ‘best’ fares and rates,increasingly rich reporting,evidence of savings anddelivery of expert client service. Through experientialsessions conducted by inter-

nationally renowned experts,the conference highlightedhow UNIGLOBE professionalscan explore their personalcreativity and bring it intotheir business life to helpsave their clients and agencystaff, time, money and trou-ble - whether online, face-to-face or over the phone.

“Our agencies found theconference sessions to beextremely beneficial andappreciated the opportunityto network with Suppliers.And as always, this eventcould not have happened

without the support and par-ticipation of our suppliersincluding Amadeus, TataAIG, Air Canada, Roam1,SpiceJet, Fairmont Hotel,North Tours and many more,”says Ritika Modi, RegionalPresident, UNIGLOBE Travel(South Asia).

Top performing agen-cies were rewarded forachieving the organization’shighest standards of growththrough professionalism and client satisfaction. Six awards for top-level sales and revenue growthachievements were given tothe owners of UNIGLOBEmember agencies fromacross the South Asia

region. Also awarded werethe top performing agencypersonnel for continuallypushing the benchmark ofexcellence higher. Theawards included recognitionfor Counselors, Managers,Sales, Accounts, Leisure and Facilitation personnel at various levels of perform-ance assessment.

“Awards for superiorgrowth through constantinnovation, excellence inclient sales and service havealways been an integral partof the UNIGLOBE culture. Theachievement of these individ-ual ‘excellence’ agency growthawards will provide both cur-rent and potential businessand leisure travel clients withthe added assurance of thestrength and dependability of

their UNIGLOBE agency,”adds Modi.

“This year we furtherenhanced the visibility of ourmembers and their locationsby putting UNIGLOBE in thenews, and in front of cricketfans, financial people, peoplelooking to hire talent on theweb and corporate travel

buyers. The UNIGLOBETravel brand is being fea-tured in in-flight magazines,with giant banners in airportsand in consumer magazines.Altogether in the last year,we have enhanced our mem-bers’ market recognition byputting their UNIGLOBETravel brand in front of 65million small to medium-

sized corporate travel clientsand high-net worth individ-ual travelers - our memberstarget customers, acrossIndia. India is on the movewith more mobile devicesthan almost any other coun-try in the world. Keeping this in mind, at the confer-ence, we announced thedelivery of mobile websitesfor every member agency. Itsupports our UNIGLOBE marketing mantra for posi-tioning our members com-petitively ... “ No matterwhere travelers go, there weare!” informs Desreux.

Earlier this year, theUNIGLOBE Travel (SouthAsia) Region also launched anew travel portal for mem-bers to improve travelerinteraction and engagement.With this new portal, travel-ers can share expertise and

ideas with fellow UNIGLOBEclients, contribute travelinformation or special expe-riences, upload travel photosand join online conversa-tions with UNIGLOBEexperts and other travelers.It’s a full-fledged travel com-munity based website com-plete with online booking,rich information about des-

tinations and various otherthings to do.

“Leading The Way!” isa call to action – a call forall of us to seek the rewardsof financial and personalsuccess. We are well positioned to continue to be a significant player in the world of travel here in South Asia. Themarket for travel is growing, we are increasingour brand recognition, weare harnessing technologyto help both our people and our clients, so theycontinue to value us whenthey want the best of travel purchasing and support,” concludesSanjay Arya, President,UNIGLOBE FranchiseOwners Association (UFOA).

In partnership withPLAN India and in the spiritof community leadership,UNIGLOBE Travel membersalso raised funds at theConference to help support 25 flood-affected families in Uttarakhand. The money will be used to buy survival kits comprisinghygiene, water, shelter andcooking items.

Over 250 UNIGLOBE Travel Professionals from across South Asia gathered to celebrate individual and collective achievements, interact, sharpen skills, network and gain insights.

New at UNIGLOBE Travel

‘Leading the Way!’highlights theimportance oftaking a leadershipattitude inresponding tomany changes

Our agencies foundthe conferencesessions to bebeneficial andappreciated theopportunity to networkwith Suppliers

“Leading The Way!” is a call toaction – a call for allof us to seek therewards of financialand personalsuccess

Michelle DesreuxCOO and Executive DirectorUNIGLOBE Travel (South Asia)

UNIGLOBE Travel (South Asia)

An education session - “It's the little things” conducted by Michelle Desreux for Agency Owners and Staff

“Innovation at Amadeus and the big four travel effects” by Bertrand Saillet, Amadeus for the Agency owners and their staff

Ritika ModiRegional PresidentUNIGLOBE Travel (South Asia)

Sanjay AryaPresident, UNIGLOBE Franchise Owners Association (UFOA)

Superfast and efficient agent desktop tool that aggregates multiple channels (GDS, Mystifly, LCC Airlines, UNIGLOBE Network Partners,Consolidators, etc) to one screen thus reducing transaction time to 5 minutes

Improved credit management through pre-trip authorization feature

Mobile websites for every member agency for accessing information on-the-go

Full-fledged travel community based website

Awarded “Most Preferred Operator for BusinessTravel” by CNBC Awaaz

Added 4 new member agencies, UNIGLOBESwiftravel, New Delhi, UNIGLOBE Flight TravelHouse, Nagpur, UNIGLOBE Remarkable India, Pune & UNIGLOBE Shan Travel, Sri Lanka taking thenetwork upto ` 1700 crores+ and 50+ locations

Partnered with Plan India to support 25 families affected by Uttarakhand

Enhanced Brand recognition and visibility for memberagencies through a Brand Building Program

Participants interact with over 20 Suppliers, sharpen skills, network and gain insight in the “Supplier Showcase”


SPECIAL FEATURE S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 2 1

‘Leads the Way’ in Jaipur

UNIGLOBE Air Travel Bureau, awarded for Top Sales & Revenue Volume - Multiple Locations UNIGLOBE Bharath International Travel, awarded for super performance by TATA AIG UNIGLOBE Le Travelworld, awarded for Top Sales & Revenue Volume - Single Location

UNIGLOBE Mod Travel, awarded for super performance by TATA AIG

Over 250 UNIGLOBE Travel Professionals across India make a statement about their service promise - We've got our clients covered

UNIGLOBE Sunny Travel, awarded for Highest Sales Growth Percentage UNIGLOBE Utopia Travel, awarded for super performance by TATA AIG

Par ticipants walking on fire as a par t of the Believe & Achieve Firewalk Activity - 9th August 2013

Gold award for Excellence in Domestic TravelCounselor category

Gold award for Excellence in InternationalTravel Counselor category

Gold award for Excellence in TravelAccounts category

Gold award for Excellence in TravelCounselor category

Gold award for Excellence in TravelFacilitation category

Gold award for Excellence in Travel Leisure category

Silver award for Excellence in TravelCounselor category

Silver award for Excellence in TravelAccounts category

Silver award for Excellence in InternationalTravel Counselor category

Silver award for Excellence in DomesticTravel Counselor category

Gold award for Excellence in Travel Sales category

Gold award for Excellence in Travel Manager category

Silver award for Excellence in TravelFacilitation category

Silver award for Excellence in Travel Leisure category

Silver award for Excellence in Travel Manager category

Silver award for Excellence in Travel Sales category

Bronze award for Excellence in DomesticTravel Counselor Category

Bronze award for Excellence in InternationalTravel Counselor category

Bronze award for Excellence in TravelSales category

Bronze award for Excellence in TravelManager category

Bronze award for Excellence in TravelFacilitation category

Bronze award for Excellence in TravelCounselor category

Bronze award for Excellence in TravelAccounts category

Bronze award for Excellence in Leisure category


COVER STORY2 4 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Meanwhile, the ques-tion is that how are travelagents gearing up for the big‘What if ’ question? Whatkind of strategies are theyopting to ensure sustainablebusiness?

Survey by TripAdvisorAccording to

TripAdvisor’s TravellerSentiment Survey, while infla-tion, falling rupee and highairfares seem to be primaryfactors impacting holidaybudgets, 75% of those sur-veyed say that they are modi-fying holiday plans and notabandoning them. NikhilGanju, Country Manager –India, TripAdvisor said,

“Though the balance may havetipped marginally infavour of domesticholidays, the overallholiday estimatesremain healthy with60% respondentsstill looking at taking between twoto four holidays this year.”

About 19 per centrespondents said theyreplaced their internationalholiday with a domestic oneon account of the staggeringfall in rupee value. This willgive impetus to domestictourism as domestic holidaysshow no detraction fromtravellers’ estimates for 2013taken at the beginning of theyear, indicating that domesticvacations stay stable. While36 per cent respondents saidtheir international holidayplans stood unchanged, 16per cent picked a more eco-nomical foreign destinationfor their vacation than initial-ly planned. Only 10 per centrespondents said they had

cancelled their foreign holi-day for this year altogether.

Unique strategiesConsidering the fluctu-

ating falling rupee, KuoniSOTC recently announcedthe launch of its holidaypackages at ‘fixed exchangerate’ to destinations likeMalaysia and Singapore. Theinteresting aspect of thesepackages are: It’s for a South-East Asian country (meansairfares are lower and cur-rency exchange rate is betterthan euro or dollar) and sec-ondly, the fixed rate currencyexchange allows travellers tobook without bothering aboutthe fluctuating currency rate.

On the other hand, Cox &Kings launched their win-ter packages with lucky-draw offer for 100 cus-tomers to win acar/bike/free holiday/smart phones/ home appliances, etc.

Tour companies arenow pitching certain des-tinations to their clientswhere the local currency’sfall is comparable to that ofthe rupee, so that theimpact is not felt by thetraveller. For instance,

apart from South Asian des-tinations which have a ‘com-fortable’ exchange rate ascompared to Europe and US,companies are also promot-ing destinations like

Australia, South Africa,Brazil, Turkey and Mexico.

According to RajeevWagle, MD, Kuoni India; it’stoo early to comment on thisissue, but it’s a good thing forpreparing for worse circum-stances. He said, “India is avery interesting market withunique customer behaviour.

We haven’t seen anykind of changes/cancellations as ofnow as it’s too earlyto predict anything.

However, we haveintroduced a few interestingand attractive packages forcustomers who are planning

their dream holiday, but areworried about the fallingrupee.” When asked aboutwhat kind of strategies atravel company can adoptduring such challengingtimes, Wagle said, “Travelcompanies should work onmore budget packages for thebooming middle-class trav-ellers. This is the segment inIndia which is growing at thefastest rate for tourism. Also,they should try to build inmore transparent pricing andfinally, never compromise onquality and service. These arethe challenging times whenyou can build life-long loyal customer base withyour service, pricing modeland knowledge.”

Trade gears up for ‘worst’, well in advance!Contd. from page 1

Fool-proof plan for recession☛ Avoid pricing wars: When demand

becomes inelastic, it is the pricingstrategy that must change. If firms tryto use price to increase sales, competi-tors respond and price wars break out.

☛ Focus on creative pricing power:Think about both the demand-sideand the supply-side elements of pric-ing. Travel firms have to convincecustomers that their products areworth the price.

☛ Offer both high- and budget-valueofferings: One of the most effectivetools to deploy in tough times islower-price, lower-value ‘flanking’products.

☛ If you've been giving products andservices away, it will be hard to chargefor them again when the recessionends: Remember, if your product orservice carries a benefit, it is worthcharging for, even during a recession.


To promote Nepal’stourism and culture in

Delhi, the Embassy of Nepal,New Delhi, organised aNaturally Nepal Evening inthe capital recently.

Talking about the targetaudience, Subash Niroula,Acting CEO, Nepal TourismBoard says, “The targetgroup has now shifted. Theyounger generation has nowcome up; they have specificinterest areas, be it religious,cultural, or adventure-based.We are trying to find outwhere is the missing link andwe want to listen to the trade

people. Hence we, as thetourism board, have createda platform for the tourismpeople from both the coun-tries to interact and look forwhat they want.”

Talking about theadvantages of B2B interac-tions, Niroula says that thesehave helped them to identifya few bottlenecks, “For Indiantourists, Nepal has so manyadvantages of currency, eas-ier travelling, culture, foodhabits, etc. It’s a home awayfrom home.” He goes on tosay, “But then, things areeasier said than done. Thereare a few bottlenecks as wehave come to understandfrom these interactions.Some may say we don’t havegood roads, and some mayhave difficulties flying intoNepal. We want to see thatthese barriers lifted. We needto know why travel and touroperators in India are notwilling to sell Nepal. We arelooking into these issues and

I think the tourism board willfind out a solution.” Niroulasays, “We have been encour-aged by the presence of thepeople at these events. Theywant some assurance andcommitment from our partthat things can move forwardand faster. We are trying toprovide them that assur-

ance.” The Tourism Boardhas been promoting Nepal inGorakhpur, Lucknow, Siliguri,Patna, Dehradun and border-ing towns. However, Niroulafeels there has to be a shift intheir strategy of promotion,and says that they have beencreating value for cross-bor-der tourism. “We need to

rope in the private sectorfrom both the countries. So,when the private sector fromNepal shows an interest to dobusiness in a particular cityof India, we take them thereon a case-to-case business.We are concentrating oncities that have direct con-nectivity and areas where we

have identified that there isa market for Nepal. We arealso planning to have anoffice in New Delhi soon.”

Niroula understand the importance of travelagents and says, “Travelagents are very important tous, and without them, wehave nothing.”

Nepal is keen to woo Indian tourists to their country. The tourism board held a workshop to listen to travelagents’ suggestions and plans to open an office in New Delhi soon.

‘Travel agents are very important for us’S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 2 5NTO

We areconcentratingon cities thathave directconnectivity andareas where wehave identifiedthat there is amarket for Nepal

Subash NiroulaActing CEONepal Tourism Board

� The Tourism Board has been promoting Nepal in Gorakhpur,Lucknow, Siliguri, Patna,Dehradun and borderingtowns

Promoting NepalPE D E N DO M A BH U T I A


FAMILY ALBUM2 6 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

IHG showcases its international propertiesTo exhibit its properties abroad to the Indian travel trade stakeholders, InterContinental Hotels Group Showcase was organised. The event atthe Warehouse Cafe in Delhi saw the bigwigs of the travel trade industry come together.

AI celebrates India-Australia direct connectAir India celebrated the launch of its non-stop flight connecting Melbourne and Sydney with stakeholders in the travel and tourism sector.

The flight has been designed in such a manner that travellers from India can reach Delhi to enjoy this flight that reaches their chosen destination early morning in Australia.


The India Chapter wouldconsist of Indian team

and have an advisory com-mittee in place in variouslocations across India. Duringthe one-day symposium, theassociation organised a feweducational sessions and pre-

sented the latest research onbusiness travel trends. Thepresentation focussed onIndia’s rapid growth as amajor business travel spend-ing nation in the APAC regionand the opportunities andchallenges that buyers face inthis market.

Talking about thegrowth of Indian businesstravel market, Welf J Ebeling,Vice President, Operations –Asia, GBTA said, “By 2015-16, China would overtake UKin terms of business spend,while on the other hand,India is growing at an equallyfast rate like China in this

segment. Developing mar-kets like India, Russia, Braziland Indonesia will continueto leapfrog the slower movingmature markets of the west-ern world. The future of busi-ness travel is happening inAPAC region and India is oneof the two countries which isgrowing at the fastest pace.”

To bring in better under-standing of the potential ofIndian business travel mar-ket, the association will belaunching Business TravelOutlook Report on India inmid 2014.

The association alsointroduced the AssociateLevel Certification Course

and Fundamentals ofBusiness Travel Managementin Mumbai. The course teach-es the basic elements of trav-el management and has been specially tailored forAPAC region. Upon comple-tion of the course, partici-pants will be presented withthe GBTA Academy –Associate Level Certificate.

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) recently launched its India Chapter in Mumbai during the one-day business travel symposium organised by the association for business travel operators.

GBTA launches India ChapterASSOCIATIONS2 8 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

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The future of business travel is happening inAPAC region and India is one of the countriesgrowing at the fastest pace

Welf J EbelingVice PresidentOperations – Asia, GBTA

� To operate GBTA Academyfor travel professionals

� Bring Global TravelProfessional Certificationto India in 2014

� Organise GBTAConference 2014 in India

� Launch a detailed GBTABusiness Travel OutlookReport on India in 2014

Aims & objectives

New Gateway hotel in Chennai

The Gateway Hotels &Resorts has unveiled TheGateway Hotel ITExpressway Chennai. Thismarks the first of TheGateway Hotel & Resortsbrand in Chennai. This isalso the first hotel to belaunched in a metro cityafter the brand wasunveiled in 2008 in India.


FAMILY ALBUM S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 2 9

The French connection to India In the name of golf...Atout France organised a workshop to showcase its niche products and network with Frenchand Indian tourism professionals.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)recently organised a Gala Dinner and AwardPresentation at the Delhi Golf Club in Delhi.The event, which TAT had organised in asso-ciation with Caddies’ Welfare trust, ThaiAirways International and Royal Thai Embassy,raised funds for the welfare of cadies in India.


AVIATION

Starting October this year,Bangalore International

Airport Limited (BIAL) willopen the new extendedTerminal 1 in phases for pas-sengers. The expansion of T1was undertaken early this yearalongside the fully operationalairport and trail-runs oncheck-in counters, operations,air traffic control tower, etc istaking place since mid-July.

Once extended, the ter-minal will double the currentfloor space and improve thepassenger capacity from 12million passengers to 20 mil-lion passengers per year. Itwill have more check-incounters, seating areas, alarge security hold area,added aerobridges and bettercommercial facilities. The air-port will also have enhancedAirport Operations ControlCentre to streamline process-es for ensuring faster turn-around of aircraft and betteroperational efficiencies.

Apart from expandingthe terminal, the airport isalso upgrading infrastructureon airside. For instance, theairport has painted the jetblast fence – a safety devicethat redirects the high energyexhaust from a jet engine toprevent damage and injury topeople, equipment and otheraircraft. The modification of

the existing terminal is alsoin process alongside thepreparations for opening the extended terminal area in October.

Similar to Mumbai’s T2terminal, the extended T1 inBengaluru will also provide ajourney through culture of

South India via art. The pas-sengers arriving at the airportwill come across ‘flightmural’ installed in domesticarrival corridor. It will show-case many dimensions of the

city based on the theme offlight and referring to city’sheritage as the aerospace hubof India and the flag-bearerof modernity and technologyin the country.

Talking about the flightmural, GV Sanjay Reddy, MD,GVK Group said, “BIAL ismore than just a transit pointfor passengers entering orleaving the South of India.While planning the expansionof T1, we felt that the airportshould not just be an exten-sion of Bengaluru city’sethos, but also that of thecommunity.

The business traveller – whomakes up themajority of passengers usingthe airport – will get a feel of the cultural tones thatcontribute significantly to the‘South India’ experience.”

Over 100 acres of land-scaped spaces have beenadded through the expansionof T1. The commercial spacetoo will get a boost post thelaunch. The airport recentlystarted the Visa On Arrival

(VoA) facility for visitors trav-elling from Japan, Singapore,New Zealand, Philippines,Indonesia, Luxembourg,Finland, Laos, Vietnam,Myanmar and Cambodia.

The new terminal in Bengaluru will boost the passenger handling capacity and provide a face-lift.

Extended T1 to open in Oct

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GV Sanjay Reddy MDGVK Group

The Karnataka Cabinet recently permitted BIAL to hike theUser Development Fee charged on domestic as well as interna-tional passengers. A request to raise the State Government’sequity proposed by BIAL to meet the additional expenditurebeing incurred for expansion of the terminal has been rejectedby the state Government and a hike in the UDF has instead beensuggested. Presently, the UDF is ̀ 231 for a domestic passengerand ̀ 952 for an international passenger. The UDF at Hyderabadis `430 for domestic passengers and ` 1,000 for internationalpassengers and the Karnataka government will convey to BIALthat the UDF should not be more than that charged by the Hyderabad airport. However, the authorities have not yetdecided on time-line to impose the revised UDF.

Getting expensive at the same time

Currently, BIAL witnesses about 315 aircraft movementsevery day, and handles a whopping 12 million passengers.BIAL officials estimate that the traffic will rise to 17-20 mil-lion passengers by 2017. Over the last five years, it hascatered to over 50 million passengers, linking the city to 51destinations and created a passage for 33 airlines. Theseinclude seven domestic (including one freighter) and 26international (seven freighters) flights.

Current highlights of BIAL

The Palace on Wheels –Rajasthan’s luxury train, rolledon its first commercial journeyfor 2013-14 to Rajasthan andother destinations. In the firsttrip, tourists from 34 differentcountries of the world are trav-elling on this super-luxurytrain. The Palace on Wheels, aJoint Venture of IndianRailways and RajasthanTourism DevelopmentCorporation (RTDC), is in formajor refurbishment. All facil-ities are being modernised,including superior communi-cation and entertainment.Even the dining cart, the bar

and lounge will take on a newlook with the planned refur-bishment. The spa and healthclub will also receive majorupgrades. Palace on Wheelsstarts its journey on everyWednesday for a seven-day

journey between September,2013 and April, 2014 fromDelhi. In 34 trips, 3,000 pas-sengers are expected to travelin this royal train. The capacityof the train is 104 passengersat a time.

First run of the season for Palace on Wheels


STATES3 2 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII), in associ-

ation with the Ministry ofTourism, Government ofIndia, is organising a B2BTrade Fair – CII Tourism Fest2013 in Chandigarh fromDecember 5-7, 2013. Led byArjun Sharma, MD, LePassage to India, 35 membersof organising committee areaiming to make this a big hitfor the Indian domestic,inbound and outboundtourism sector. To promotethe fest, CII recently organ-ised an event in Mumbai.Talking about the first-of-its-kind mega travel and tourismfest by CII, Arun Srivastava,Regional Director – Central &Western India, India Tourism,Government of India said,

“To revamp theirimage, Maharashtra andother states are participatingactively in the CII TourismFest to reach out to theworld. The tourism industryhas still to come at par withthe growth figures of worldtourism average. The festprovides a great scope tonational and internationaltourism stakeholders to

expand businesses, bringmore investments and play a pivotal role in the growth story .”

He informed that the keyhighlight of the fest would be

quality buyers & exhibitors,Chief Ministers’ Forum andideation platforms in additionto showcasing of various proj-ects under PPP mode by differ-ent states. He adds, “In thepresent scenario, with rupeeweakening against dollar,

inbound tourism in India hasa huge scope. This must becapitalised by our tour operators as an opportunity to promote India as a globally competitive anddiverse tourist destination.”

Highlighting the impor-tance of this fest for the Indiantourism sector, Sharma said,“To showcase India as aGlobal Tourist Destination bycreating synergies betweenstakeholders, creating policiesand desired infrastructure, CIITourism Fest would bringtogether various state govern-ments, central tourism agen-cies and senior representa-tives from travel, tourism andhospitality industry on oneplatform. These segmentsinclude hotels & resorts, hos-pitals, tour operators, airlines,airport authorities, air chartercompanies, tourism boards ofvarious countries, city trans-port providers, academia, pol-icy makers and industryexperts.

Adding on similar notes,Abhijeet Patil, President –Maharashtra Chapter, ADTOIsaid, “CII Tourism Fest wouldbring about a healthy dialogueand interstate co-operationthat is of utmost importance toattract tourists to the WesternIndia. We would take a struc-tured delegation fromMaharashtra & Gujarat to thefest and would also present aWhite Paper on the Roadmapto promote tourism in this region.”

Iqbal Mulla, Member,CII Tourism Fest Core Group- Travel Agents & TourOperators & President, TAAIcalled for portraying India asa continent to the tourismworld, considering thediversities offered by thecountry. He said, “CIITourism Fest would be an

ideal platform to showcaseIndia’s beautiful heritageand serene beauty to theworld. I call upon all stake-holders to actively partici-pate in this mega fest andharness India’s full tourismpotential where Canada,

Indonesia, China,Philippines, Malaysia, andMacau have confirmed toparticipate and countrieslike Abu Dhabi, Thailand,Sri Lanka, Germany,Mauritius, Egypt and Kenyaare also likely to participatein the fest.”

Rahul Himalian,Additional General Manager- Western Region, IRCTC wasalso present at the event. Hesaid, “IRCTC would activelypartner in the CII TourismFest and provide all possiblesupport to promote tourismin India.

The CII Tourism Fest-2013 will be held in Chandigarh from December 5-7 to showcase tourism products of multiple states and countries.

Maharashtra to leverage tourism

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I call upon allstakeholders toactivelyparticipate inthis mega festand harnessIndia’s fulltourism potential

We wouldpresent aWhite Paperon theRoadmap topromotetourism in thisregion.

Abhijeet Patil PresidentMaharashtra Chapter, ADTOI

Iqbal Mulla, Member, CII TourismFest Core Group - Travel Agents &Tour Operators & President, TAAI

Various associations like Outbound Tour OperatorsAssociation of India, Le Passage to India, India Golf TourismAssociation, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India,Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India, Hotel& Restaurant Association of Northern India and IndianFederation Associations of Culinary World Association ofChefs Societies, are supporting the event.

Trade association support

Chandigarh is the host city and Punjab is the principalpartner state for the CII Tourism Fest, while Maharashtra,Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are the focus states.Other participating states at the fest include - Gujarat, Goa,West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh,Pondicherry, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.

CII states support

Concur launches TripLinkfor TMCs

Concur Technologiesrecently launched ConcurTripLink for TravelManagement Companies andcorporate customers to cap-ture every booking and con-trol program leakage.Created from the combina-tion of the Concur OpenBooking product and therecently acquired TripLinktechnology from GDSx,Concur TripLink includesfeatures for corporate cus-tomers, TMCs and suppliersfor unprecedented visibilityacross all itineraries, andenables TMCs to better servetravelers regardless of howthe booking originated.The Concur TripLink productsuite includes: � TripLink – TripLink

provides a completeview of all traveltransactions, givingbusiness travellers andtheir companies’ bettervisibility, more control and strongernegotiating powerwhile still retainingnegotiated discounts.

� TripLink for Agencies –TripLink for Agenciesenables TMCs tocapture and managebookings, regardless ofwhat booking tool isused on the itinerary.Agency automatedsolutions will beautomatically integratedwith TripLink, providingvalue-added processingand informationservices.

� Supplier TripLinks –Concur’s AppCenterwill include TripLinksto partner suppliers,including Avis, IHG, LaQuinta, Marriott andothers, to ensuretravelers book usingcorporate negotiatedrates and thatcompanies havevisibility into directbookings.

CII Tourism Festwould bringtogether stategovernments,agencies andtourismrepresentativeson one platform

Arjun SharmaMDLe Passage to India

The fest provides immense scope for national and international tourismstakeholders to expand businesses,bring more investments and play apivotal role in the growth story

Arun SrivastavaRegional Director – Central & Western India, India

Tourism, GoI


AVIATION

Baron Aviation, a divisionof Baron Luxury and

Lifestyle is gearing up formaking charter flights morepopular in India by aggregat-ing the business jet operators

and helicopters in the country.Baron aims to corporatise gen-eral aviation market in Indiaby consolidating the aircraftinventory, aggregating cus-tomers and professionalisingthe approach towards qualityof services to match with theglobal standards. The compa-ny currently provides accessto a large fleet inventory hav-ing various range, size andseating capacity. Currently fly-ing 160 hours a month, thecompany aims to fly over5,000 hours a year by end ofMarch 2014. To achieve thetarget, the company is work-ing closely with multiple busi-ness jet operators in India and

helicopter operators; corpo-rate companies and also travelcompanies. Apart from incen-tivising travel trade for bring-ing business, the company isalso educating the industryabout how travelling in a busi-ness jet or helicopter is not so

expensive and makes businesssense for corporate travellers.

Rajeev Wadhwa,Chairperson, Baron Luxuryand Lifestyle said, “Travelagents are one of our keypartners in selling our fleetand promoting our business.Over 60 per cent of our busi-ness is generated from trav-el agents and tour operatorswho cater to MICE and high-end leisure clients.With our business model, weoffer a variety of choice inaircrafts and helicopterswhich travel agents cancombine with their high-enditinerary for corporate and

leisure travellers. Also, for high-end weddings, family tours and MICE; travel agents offer excellentluxury packages wherein we fit perfectly as the air-transport partner.”Currently, the company has

an inventory base of 25 air-craft that includes singleand twin-engine helicopters,turboprops, midsize andexecutive jets.

Talking about rates ofcharter flights, Wadhwa said,“People need to understandthat charter flights are notthat expensive to hire, whencompared to the time itsaves. It offers direct connec-tivity to the final destinationand more importantly, astress-free travel experience.Once this myth is debunked,there are many opportunitiesin Indian market for charterflight operators.”

Baron Aviation will educate the market that business jetflying is ‘not so expensive’ and has further plans toaddress the travel trade as a key distribution channel.

Boosting biz jet aviation

AN I TA JA I N

Singapore Airlines plans tolaunch a third daily flight

to the capital New Delhi.Additionally, SilkAir, the

regional wing of SingaporeAirlines, will also make net-work adjustments during theNorthern Winter operating

season, adding an additionalservice between Singaporeand Visakhapatnam, takingservices from three times aweek. GM Toh, GeneralManager-India, SingaporeAirlines said,

“We’re also addingflights toCoimbatore andThiruvananthapuramexclusively duringthe peak periodbetween Novemberand January.”

Talking about theimpact of the rupee depreca-tion, Toh said, “I wouldexpect an impact on out-bound travel from India inthe short term, but in thelong term, I expect the Indian traveller to continue

to travel abroad. The marketis very resilient.”

Singapore Airlines isalready participating with theSingapore Tourism Board(STB) in the launch of itsINSPIRE Incentive programmefor MICE travellers. He added,“We have done well, butdemand has been much softerthan expected. The Incentivemarket is very strong in Indiaand Singapore is popular as anIncentive destination.”

SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, will also operate an additional service between Singapore andVisakhapatnam, up from the current 3 times a week.

3rd daily flight to Delhi

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The company recently launchedBaron Eagle Membership card forselect frequent flyers. As India’s rupee,and its economy faces downward pressure, “We found this the right timeto introduce the jet card. While Indiais not short on billionaires, peoplearen’t making business jet purchasesat this time,” adds Wadhwa.

Baron Eagle Membership

GM TohGeneral Manager-IndiaSingapore Airlines

� Singapore Airlines currentlyoperates 56 weekly flightsfrom 6 cities in India. SilkAir,currently operates 42 weeklyflights from 8 cities in India.

� Singapore Airlines andSilkAir combined schedulefeature 98 weekly flightsfrom 11 cities in India

High Fly


AGENTS3 4 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Q. Kindly brief us onthe journey of LePassage so far?

It has been a veryexciting journey and a oneof self-realisation, too. Forexample, when we as a teamfirst went about expandingthe market base. Once thatwas done, we started towork at building our brand and increasing ourmarket share. It has been afulfilling journey because webrought smiles to faces ofmillions of people who travelled with us.

Our work enabled us toshowcase the myriad hues ofIncredible India which com-pelled a lot of travellers tocome back to India again andagain. And somewhere, whilewe enjoyed what we weredoing, we reached theNumber One position in thecountry. One of our mostcherished and humblingachievements is the smile wecould bring to the faces of lit-tle children by creating thefirst dedicated foundation inthe history of the Indian trav-el industry, ‘Shaping Lives’.

Q. How do the variousstrategic business units

of Le Passage work tostay on top in theirrespective domains?

Since inception, we havecreated 12 dedicated StrategicBusiness Units (SBUs)that work acrossentire gamut ofthe Indiantourism prod-ucts, represent-ing all the marketsegments. Each ofthese verticals is anindividualprofitcen-

tre with its own targets, goalsand working with its distinctmethodology. It is this diversi-ty that blends beautifully intoa tapestry and forms the

unique identity of LePassage to India. Each

of these SBUs has rel-evant leadership,great teams andevery one of them iseither already a mar-ket leader or fast ontheir way to becom-

ing one. All

the SBUs have been nurturedwith patience and dedicationwhile providing them with an environment and apt tools to grow.

Q. What new SBUs are inthe offing? Is it a goodtime for acquisition?

While currently all ourStrategic Business Units arein various stages of maturing,growth and consolidation, weare open to new alliances andpartnerships. Acquisitions, inthe present environment arealso a sound business senseas we can achieve good valu-ations for a good idea. We, atLe Passage, are committed tolong-term growth of thetourism sector and strivetowards being responsibleleaders.

Q. From yourperspective, whatattributes of leadershipinfuses the burningdesire to stay on topyear after year?

There is no magic wandto all this. There is no substi-tute to passion, perseveranceand hard work. As a company,we will grow by between 10-15% this year across our vari-ous business verticals viz.inbound, Outbound and MICEsegments.

How important are theannual conventions ofleading travel tradeassociations? Why?

Annual conventions area melting pot of ideas and aplatform, where the industrycan iron out differences, findsolutions and most importantlyset the tone for future growth.It is also an opportunity tobring the industry together andcreate the necessary platformfor creating a single voice that can bring about evolution.I must congratulate the currentleadership at IATO for steeringthe industry well during these challenging times. I wishthe IATO convention much success.

The group is open to new alliances and partnerships, including acquisitions, which in the present environment makessound business sense. Arjun Sharma, Managing Director, Le Passage to India talks about the journey of the company,its various strategic business units and much more in a candid interaction with .

A sound time for new acquisitions

Our work enabled us to showcase the myriad hues ofIncredible India which compelled a lot of travellers tocome back to India. And somewhere, while weenjoyed what we were doing, we reached the Number One position in the country

Arjun SharmaManaging Director, Le Passage to India (LPTI)

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The Outbound TourOperators Association of

India (OTOAI) has decided toproduce a white paper on thecurrent issues faced by theoutbound tour operators inIndia It will also put emphasison the role and contributionsof outbound tourism industryto the national economy.

Guldeep Singh Sahni,President, OTOAI informedthat the future agenda of theassociation will be pursuing

the government to recogniseoutbound tour operators inIndia—the integral part oftravel and tourism industry.He also maintained that out-bound tour operators will haveto be more professionalthrough best practices andspecialisation, and self-regu-lated by certain guidelines.The association will chalk outvarious plans and programmesin the months to come to trainits members for their growth.

Earlier, Vinit Gopal,Joint Secretary, OTOAI, pre-

sented OTOAI-Vision 2020 byhighlighting some scintillat-ing statistics pertaining to thepresent scenario and futureprospect of the outboundtourism industry in India. Hepointed out the emergence ofbooking through internet andimpact of e-commerce ontravel and tourism industry.“Currently, 68 per cent ofoutbound travellers takeinformation by accessing tointernet,” he underlined.

Taking part at the paneldiscussions, Vasudha Sondhi,

MD, Outbound Marketing,emphasised on the fastchanging industry scenarioheading towards profession-alism and self-regulations forthe greater interest. “Onlywell-trained and specialisedcompanies with highly pro-fessional approach will sur-vive in the days to come,”said Sondhi.

Ankush Nijhawan, MD,Nijhawan Group said, “Agentsshould focus on niche prod-ucts with adequate domainknowledge. It is immaterial

whether travellers are becom-ing internet savvy. However,it is the efficiency of a touroperator that can retain andexpand his/her customer base.There is always a scope ofgrowth for traditional touroperators, who can offerdynamic packages to its cus-tomers by fulfilling theirrequirements,” he added.

Romit Theophilus,Director, Sales & Marketing,German National TouristOffice and Dhananjay S. Saliankar, Regional

Director – Starwood SalesOrganisation, South Asiaendorsed Nijhawan.According to Theophilus, theonline buying will take timein India though internetbrowsing is growing tremen-dously. “Indian customers areyet hesitant about onlinetransaction through creditcard,” he argued. “Be inno-vative and specialised, find new destination, exper-iment new ideas and pamperthe travellers aspirations,”added Saliankar.

‘OTOAI-Vision 2014: Business Way Forward’ in New Delhi was followed by the AGM of the association and anevening networking function on September 5, 2013.

OTOAI holds AGM & discusses Vision 2014RATA N KR PAU L

ASSOCIATIONS3 6 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

GLIMPSES


Christened the ‘best keptsecret of Europe’, the

Polish Tourist Organisation(PTO) showcased nine partic-ipants in a three-city road-show in Delhi, Kolkata andMumbai. The event was sup-

ported by the PolandConvention Bureau (PCB),which came to India for thefirst time.

Talking about the mar-keting strategy of PTO withthe Indian travel tradeindustry, Aneta Ksiazek,Chief Conference Expert,PTO said, “In India andJapan, we will be concen-trating on the travel trade.

From less than 9,000 Indianarrivals in 2006, Polandreceived around 20,000Indian visitors last year. Aspart of improving theengagement with the Indiantravel trade, PTO has plansto launch Poland SpecialistProgramme in this marketby the end of this year. In

addition, we will conductfam trips for the travel tradesoon. PTO will also launchour media campaign by endof October.”

MICE will be the keydriver for outbound toPoland. According to Ksiazek,PTO, Poland’s unique loca-tion in the heart of Europe,

excellent transportation facil-ities, warm hospitality of thepeople, rich history and nat-ural beauty make it anattractive destination. A lotof new convention infra-structure has been devel-oped in the last decade,along with niche venuesincluding coal mines, salt

mines, etc. “No other desti-nation in the world offers anopportunity to play TurboGolf inside a coalmine. TheWieliczka Salt mine can hosta gathering up to 600 peoplethat too 300m below theground. There are plenty ofcastles that can be used asconference venues which are

rare to be found in any othercountry,” Ksiazek revealed.Poland Convention Bureauwill now bid for many inter-national conventions andcongresses because of thefreshness of the destinationsand competitiveness com-pared to many otherEuropean destinations.

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NTO S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 3 7

In a bid to draw the India outbound, Poland Tourism came to India to promote itself as a destination. reports more on the NTO’s strategies and plans.

Poland keen to tap Indian MICE

To leverage on theforthcoming Diwali andChristmas vacations,South African Tourismhas partnered with Club7Holidays to offer travelpackages and deals toSouth Africa for Indiantravellers and trade.Commenting on this jointmarketing activity,Hanneli Slabber, CountryManager, South AfricanTourism said, “In the cur-rent scenario, as a resultof the strengthening ofthe Indian Rupee againstthe South African Rand,Indian travellers going toSouth Africa will getexceptional value on theground as they can par-take in so many moreactivities and experi-ences in their desiredbudget.” As proven bythe recent tourist arrivalfigures, an increasingnumber of Indian touristshave been travelling toSouth Africa.

SA partnerswith Club7Holidays

Aneta KsiazekChief Conference Expert PTO


After two successful tripsin 2012, IRCTC has set

off its third trip of GyanodayaExpress this month. AdhirRanjan Chowdhury, Ministerof State for Railways hasflagged off the train fromDelhi Safdarjung station.

Rakesh Tandon, CMD, IRCTCand other top railway andIRCTC officials were alsopresent on the occasion.

IRCTC, in associationwith the Delhi University,embarked, in 2012, on a first-of-its-kind unique project,“Gyanodaya Express – An

Educational Train Journey”to impart quality educationand assist nation building bycarving overall personalitiesand help explore hidden tal-ents in students.

The earlier two tripswere run in Delhi-Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Goa-

Bangaluru-Wardha-Delhi andDelhi-Jodhpur-Bikaner-Jaisalmer-Delhi sectors in2012. This time, it will be a 7nights/8 days tour coveringAmritsar- Ludhiana-Chandigarh- Kurukshetra.

There are around 850students in this trip including

about 150 international stu-dents from the Universities ofEdinburgh and London.

The aim of this trip is toacquaint and provide the stu-dents an exposure on theadvancements in urbanisa-tion and industry along withthe cultural, religious and traditional diversity of India.

The students will also visitvillages to know the ruralIndia, its farms and farmers.The educational sojourn willvisit industrial hubs ofLudhiana, architectural mar-vels in the city of Chandigarh– showcasing its model fortown planning and develop-ment and the revered reli-gious pilgrimage of the Sikhs– the Golden Temple atAmritsar to have a glimpse ofSikhism and the teachings ofSikh religion. The studentswill also visit Kurukshetra,the place of epic battle ofMahabharat.

It will also enable theIndian and the internationalstudents to interact with eachother giving them an oppor-tunity to know about theirculture and practices.

IRCTC’s Gyanodaya Express was flagged off this month. Around 850 students, including about 150 internationalstudents from the Universities of Edinburgh and London, set off for Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Kurukshetra…

Educational express chugs alongRAILWAYS3 8 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

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Bergrruen unveilsfirst upscale property in Pune

Soon after the launch ofKeys Hotels’ upscalebrand, Keys Klub,Berggruen Hotels, its par-ent company recentlylaunched its first Keys Klubproperty – Keys Klub HotelParc Estique, Viman Nagar,Pune. Sanjay Sethi,Managing Director & CEO,Bergrruen Hotels said,“Keys Klub is meant to beelite, stylish, world-classand cheerful with cuttingedge technology and infra-structure support. KeysKlub Hotel Parc Estique isthe perfect match, and thismove is in the direction ofturning Berggruen Hotelsinto a holistic hotel compa-ny catering to all cate-gories of customers.” Headded, “This is also thelaunch of our first fran-chised property.”

The Keys Klub HotelParc Estique Pune offers115 rooms, suites andservice apartments withen-suite bathrooms, abusiness floor with a ded-icated lounge, a businesscentre, banquet options forweddings, conferences andmeetings, 3 restaurants, aswimming pool, gymnasi-um and a full service spa.


For more information, contact us at: [email protected]

SEPTEMBERNATIONAL16 Bengaluru European Quartet’s Roadshow17 Delhi Tourism Australia's Workshop17 Chennai European Quartet’s Roadshow18 Kolkata European Quartet’s Roadshow18-21 Kochi FHRAI Annual Convention19 Delhi European Quartet’s Roadshow20 Kolkata Tourism Australia's Workshop 24 Chennai Tourism Australia's Workshop24 Mumbai Tourism Office of Spain’s B2B

Workshop25 Bengaluru Tourism Office of Spain’s B2B

Workshop25 Mumbai Love For Africa Roadshow 201326 Delhi Tourism Office of Spain’s B2B

Workshop26 Hyderabad Tourism Australia's Workshop27 Delhi Love For Africa Roadshow 201327 Mumbai Zimbabwe Roadshow27-28 Mumbai Locations27-29 Delhi Great Domestic Tourism Bazaar30 Delhi Zimbabwe Roadshow

INTERNATIONAL12-15 Tokyo JATA TABIHAKU15-17 China PATA Travel Mart 201324 Ukraine Luxury Travel Market24-27 Paris International French Travel Market

Top Resa25-27 Kazakhstan Astana Leisure27 Almaty Luxury Travel Market30-3 Oct Mexico International Luxury Travel Market

Americas (ILTMA)

OCTOBERNATIONAL1 Bengaluru Tourism Australia's Workshop4-6 Indore Indian International Travel Exhibition11 Mumbai Tourism Australia's Workshop22 Delhi Scandinavian Tourism Board’s

Seminar23 Mumbai Scandinavian Tourism Board’s

Seminar24 Chennai Scandinavian Tourism Board’s

Seminar29 Delhi Austrian National Tourist Board’s

Roadshow31 Mumbai Austrian National Tourist Board’s

RoadshowINTERNATIONAL1-3 Bangkok IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific2 Los Angeles ATOAI Roadshow3 San Francisco ATOAI Roadshow7 Seattle ATOAI Roadshow8 Vancouver ATOAI Roadshow10 Toronto ATOAI Roadshow14-18 China Canadian Tourism Commission’s

Showcase Asia23-25 Singapore ITB Asia

NOVEMBERNATIONAL11 Mumbai Monaco Tourism’s B2B Roadshow13 Bengaluru Monaco Tourism’s B2B Roadshow22-24 Pune IITM Pune26 Delhi German National Tourist Board’s

B2B Event27 Bengaluru German National Tourist Board’s

B2B Event29 Mumbai German National Tourist Board’s

B2B Event29-Dec2 Hyderabad IITM HyderabadINTERNATIONAL4-7 London World Travel Market11-14 Spain Golf Travel Market

INTERNATIONAL

Nordic Fires Adventuresand Nijhawan Group

signed a contract recentlythat both the parties will pooltheir knowledge andresources to sell Nordic Firestourism products in India.They will also work cohesivelywith the respective TourismBoards to promote Nordic andEstonian tourism in India.

The tour packagesinclude St Peterline 4-citycruises in the Baltic Sea withdestinations such as StPetersburg (Russia),

Stockholm (Sweden), Tallinn(Estonia) and Helsinki(Finland) as well as city-breaks and tailor-made pack-

ages for honeymoon, busi-ness and incentive travel.Chartered flights and dedi-cated cruises for Indian trav-ellers are targetted for nextseasons. Nordic Fires willoffer customised itinerariesfor the Indian traveller. In2014, the companies areplanning to serve up to 2,000tourists, who will be able toexperience the hospitality ofSt Peterline cruises and thespirit of the above-mentionedBaltic Sea capitals.

Riina Palu, CEO, Nordic Fires Adventures, said that the aim of theNordic Fires packages is to

satisfy the relaxation and interest needs of Indians, showcasing themthe quality and culture that the Nordic region isknown for.

Ankush Nijhawan,Managing Director, NijhawanGroup said

The Indian market is ready for newdestinations andshorter cruises.

For example, a 4-nightSt Peterline cruise is offered together with a week-end in Tallinn.

Over the years, more than100 international teams

from China, the Philippines,Thailand, Taiwan - China,Japan, Korea, USA, Australia,the UK, Switzerland, France,Germany, Italy, Portugal andSpain have participated inthis world-class pyrotechnicshoot-out.

Many travellers andholiday makers from all overthe world choose this timeof the year to come toMacau to enjoy an exoticholiday illuminated by spec-tacular displays in the nightsky. It is one of the mostcolourful events in Macauthat can be enjoyed from many vantage points

on the Macau Peninsula andTaipa Island.

The contest runs overtwo weeks with many othercultural events and festivitiestaking place around the city.One can also head to popularshopping malls and flea mar-kets in the city and also tryout a range of traditional

dishes. The Taipa Flea Marketis easily accessible from TaipaOld Town and comprisesdozens of stalls selling hun-dreds of surprise items! Fromtraditional delicacies, periodpostcards to stamps to lamps,jade pieces, jewellery, coins,toys, collectibles and bric-a-brac of every description.

MGTO has been aggres-sively promoting its uniquefestival culture, including tra-ditional Chinese celebrationsas well as the importantWestern festivals of Easter,Procession of our Lady ofFátima, and Christmas toattract more visitors toMacau. In addition to this, thedestination is holding the leg-endary Macau Grand Prix andother festivals like the Macau Food Festival in thecoming months.

MGTO expects more Indian visitors this year as it celebrates the 25th

edition of its Annual Macau International Fireworks Display Contest.

Fireworks Festival in Macau

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Identified by bright orangeaprons, each Flying Nanny

aims to provide a ‘helpinghand’ to families and unac-companied minors.

During the past twomonths, 300 Etihad Airwayscabin crew members havecompleted enhanced train-ing for the role. A further 60 will be trained inSeptember and 500 FlyingNannies will be workingacross Etihad Airwaysflights by the end of 2013.

Aubrey Tiedt, EtihadAirways’ Vice PresidentGuest Services, said, “Flyingwith a young family can be adaunting task, even for themost experienced travellers,

and the Flying Nanny roledemonstrates our under-standing of our guests’ needsand our commitment to mak-ing the journey as relaxingand comfortable as possible.”

During the flight theFlying Nanny will utilise herspecialist training, supportingthe needs of families and unaccompanied minors, as well as supportingother cabin crew memberswhen they interact with families.

Claire Burgess, EarlyYears Consultant, NorlandCollege, said, “NorlandCollege is delighted to be akey partner in developing and delivering the FlyingNanny program with Etihad Airways.”

Etihad Airways launched an in-flight child care assistance programmefor families, led by the introduction of a new Flying Nanny on board.

Meet Etihad’s Flying Nanny!

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� September 14, 19, 21, 28

� October 1, 2013

Fireworks DisplayEvent Dates

Nordic Fires Adventures, an Estonia-based B2B tourism company, now hasNijhawan Group as the partner for Nordic package tours and cruises in India.

Nordic Fires Adventures in India

Ankush NijhawanManaging DirectorNijhawan Group


NEWS

The Indian outbound seg-ment is deeply worried

about depreciation in thevalue of Indian rupee andincrease in airfares. Here,Mohit Batra, IndiaRepresentative, ScandinavianTourist Board suggests that asimple solution is to look atdestinations that are notaffected due to fall in value ofIndian rupee vis-à-vis Dollar.

“There are many desti-nations that are unaffected bydepreciation in the Indiancurrency as their local cur-rencies had not seen any suchfluctuation against the IndianRupee. In my case, I will rec-ommend that Indians shouldlook at exploring Denmark,Sweden and Norway,” saidBatra. He was speaking at aworkshop jointly organisedby Emirates andScandinavian Tourist Boardin New Delhi “With introduc-tion of Emirates’ new flightto Stockholm from Dubai, ourtravel partners in India will

find it easier to build and sellround trip itineraries aroundScandinavian countries. Withthis connection, they canarrive at Stockholm and exit

from Copenhagen or theother way round,” he added.Emirates launched flight toStockholm from Dubai onSeptember 4, 2013. Stockholm

is Emirates’ second destinationin Scandinavia postCopenhagen that waslaunched in 2011. Emirateswill be operating B-777-300ER aircraft on the DubaiStockholm route.

“Following the launch ofEmirates' service toCopenhagen in 2011, ourStockholm launch gives theairline's Scandinavian net-work a significant boost. Thisworkshop will better equipour channel partners tounderstand the flexibilityprovided by Emirates servic-es to these cities and in promoting the entireScandinavian region,” said Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Vice President, India & Nepal, Emirates.

“Through initiatives likethese, Emirates’ endeavour isnot only to promote tourismfrom India by providingworld-class connectivity but to bring visitors to India from the region,” he added.

Denmark, Sweden and Norway are some of the destinations unaffected bythe Rupee fall, and therefore still viable options.

Destinations unaffected by

VI V E K SE T H I

It is easier tosell round-tripitenariesaroundScandinaviancountries

This workshopwilll help ourchannelpartnerunderstandour services

Essa Sulaiman AhmadVice PresidentIndia & Nepal, Emirates

Mohit BatraIndia RepresentativeScandinavian Tourist Board

In a bid to provide qualityentertainment to all those

sailing onboard Star Cruises,Mumbai-based GuidelineTravels, in association withStar Cruises, is organising aBollywood Dhamaal eventonboard the SuperStar Virgosailing from Singapore.During November 10-15,2013; singer Parthiv Gohilshall be live in concert fortwo consecutive sailings i.e.three nights on November10, 2013 and for two nightson November 13, 2013.Additionally, singer AmitJadhav will be bringing inthe New Year betweenDecember 29, 2013 –January 3, 2014 onboard the SuperStar Virgo for two consecutive sailings,

|i.e. December 29, 2013 sailing for three nightsand for two nights onJanuary 1, 2014.

Pradeep Saboo,Managing Partner, GuidelineTravels said, “This is the firsttime such an event is beingconducted by a cruise line in

Asia. Until now, the cruisewas only looked at as anoption for leisure holiday or acorporate (MICE) movement,but it shall now also be a destination for eventssuch as these.”

Naresh Rawal, VicePresident (Sales) - India,

South Asia, Russia, MiddleEast and South Africa, StarCruises added, “We havepartnered with GuidelineTravels for this mega-eventon the SuperStar Virgo.”Talking about plans to pro-mote the mega Bollywoodevents, Saboo informed,

“Guideline Travelshas been one of the top-sellingPreferred SellingAgent for StarCruises over the years.

We will inform thetravel trade about the events through our emailmarketing campaign as wellas through our networkacross the country. ”

Guideline Travels will be getting Bollywood singers aboard its cruise shipSuperStar Virgo for its sailings in November and New Year.

Bollywood on the high seas

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Fortune Park Hotels has fur-ther expanded its portfolio ofhotels with the opening of thebrand’s 41st hotel, ‘FortuneSelect Grand Ridge’ inTirupati. The hotel is conve-niently located at the intersec-tion of the new Airport BypassRoad and Tiruchanoor Road on

the way to Tirumala, on amajor highway network thatprovides congestion free travelto the Lord VenkateshwaraTemple. Being just 1.5 kmfrom the city centre and 13 kmfrom the airport, the hotel pro-vides easy access to all keyareas, major temples and

tourist attractions. Suresh Kumar, Chief

Executive Officer, Fortune ParkHotels, said, “We are extreme-ly happy to announce our sec-ond hotel in the holy city ofTirupati, Fortune would beopening at least 5-6 new prop-erties under its various brands

in the current Financial Year.” Fortune Select Grand Ridgeoffers 138 furnished rooms,consisting of 98 StandardRooms, 35 Fortune ClubRooms and 5 Suites. Some ofthe rooms also offer the spec-tacular view of Tirumala Hillsand the Shilparamam Park.

Fortune Select Grand Ridge opens in Tirupati

Naresh Rawal, VP (Sales) - India,South Asia, Russia, Middle East andSouth Africa, Star Cruises

Pradeep SabooManaging PartnerGuideline Travels


CLIPBOARD S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 4 3


MOVEMENTS4 4 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Vipul Mittra, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Government of Gujarat, apublished writer, an avid traveller and a bureaucrat is a self-confessed bib-liophile. He says, “I generally spend my drives from my home to the office

and back browsing through the latest works of fic-tion. Otherwise, I love spending time with my wifeand children Megha and Mehul. We often go fora drive after dinner and weekends are spentcatching up on my socialising and movies.”

Talking People is a special dedicated corner, created as a sounding board for who’s who of the Indian and International travel industry. With Talking People, it is our endeavour to bring you face-to-face with people.

Contributed by: Peden Doma Bhutia, Anita Jain & Lyandra D’Souza

Jitin Neol has been appointed Head of Sales, ibis Jaipur. His firstassociation with Accor India began in 2008, supporting the launch

of ibis in India. Neol comes with over eight yearsof experience and hails from International

Institute of Management Technology,Gurgaon (IIMT). Jitin has earlier workedwith Country Inn & Suites by Carlson,Jaypee Hotels and Radisson EdwardianHampshire. He has completed his HigherSenior Secondary School Examination

from Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan’sVidyashram, Jaipur. Neol

enjoys sports and playscricket, table tennis, andhorse riding.

Latha Nair has been appointed as the Director of Sales atDoubleTree Suites by Hilton Bangalore. She joins as a pre-opening member of the first DoubleTree Suites in Asia Pacific.Nair brings to the hotel 20 years of industry expertise havinghad associations with established hotelbrands like The Park, Accor, HyattInternational Hotels & Resorts and TheLeela Palaces and Resor ts, amongstothers. Nair will be responsible for theoverall management and leadership ofthe Sales department.

Gold Coast TourismMumbaiAshish Bhandari has been appointed as the BusinessDevelopment Manager India for Gold CoastTourism. Bhandari will be responsiblefor heading the organisation’s strategyto promote the Gold Coast as a lead-ing leisure and business events des-tination for Indian travellers. Bhandarihas served as an Associate Directorof Hotel Sales for OutboundMarketing, India; working across alltrade industry channels for the past five years.

DoubleTree Suites by HiltonBangalore BangaloreRaghu Sapra has been appointed as the General Manager at

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton, Bangalore.He joins the as a pre-opening member

of the first DoubleTree Suites in AsiaPacific. Sapra brings to the hotel17 years of industry expertise hav-

ing had associations with estab-lished hotel brands like Marriott,

Hyatt and Imperial New Delhi,amongst others. Sapra has also

served as Director of Operations withHilton Bangalore Residencies.

Global Hotel RepresentationsNew DelhiOP Mendiratta has been appointed as Managing Director of theGlobal Hotel Representations. A Hotel Management graduate fromEIILM University, he specialised in Persian language courses fromIHM Panipat and JNU respectively.Mendiratta has been in the hospitalityindustry for over three decades. Hestarted his career with ITC Maurya andthen worked with The Connaught andParkland Group as Group GeneralManager. Mendiratta is heading theteam for Marketing - St. Marks(Bangalore) / St. Laurn (Ahmedabad) /The Resort (Mumbai - AksaBeach) / Sayaji (Indore) /Sayaji (Pune) and Sayaji(Vadodara) in Delhi/NCR.

Hilton Garden Inn Gurgaon BaaniSquareGurgaonVivek Sharma has been appointed as the General Manager ofHilton Garden Inn Gurgaon Baani Square.Sharma brings with him over 15 years ofexperience in the hospitality industry. Inhis former position, as General Managerfor DoubleTree Suites by HiltonBangalore, Sharma was responsible forsteering the pre-opening team. Before join-ing the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of hotelsin February 2012, he served as the GeneralManager for The Galaxy Hotel,Gurgaon, Delhi NCR.

Leela MumbaiMumbaiAshish Kumar Rai has been appointed as the General Managerof the Leela Mumbai. In his new role, Rai will oversee the generaloperations and management of the 392-room property. He beganhis career with The Leela Palaces, Hotelsand Resorts as a management trainee in1998 and went on to lead the FrontOffice Department at The Leela Palace,Bangalore, and thereafter at various luxury hotels as Rambagh Palace,Jaipur, Taj Bengal, Kolkata, Taj Land’sEnd, Mumbai and most recently, as theGeneral Manager at Umaid BhawanPalace, Jodhpur.

Manish Kakkar has been taken on as the Hotel Manager of ibisJaipur. Before assuming the current responsibilities, Kakkar

was working with Trident Hilton Gurgaon andOberoi, New Delhi, Uppal's Orchid (anEcotel Hotel), New Delhi, Hotel HindustanInternational, Le Meridien, New Delhi andas a Revenue Manager in NovotelHyderabad and Hyderabad InternationalConvention Centre. Hailing from theInstitute of Hotel Management andCatering Technology Gwalior, Kakkar

comes with over 14 years ofexperience in Front OfficeOperation, Sales, RevenueManagement and Reservation.

Tony Fernandes, Founder & CEO, AirAsia, says that when he is on the ground and out of the office,it's family first for this time-stretched CEO. His children are his priority, he adds. Fernandes cookssometimes when he's at home, or the family would just stay home and watch TV. Or he would takehis daughter out to do her hair, or go shopping. Weekends at home, when he's actually in Kuala Lumpurand where he tries to be these days, is spent with his eight-year-old son. And they do stuff guys do,like play rugby, football and hockey. His wife, who used to write for television, is now a stay-at-home

mother, and 'a fantastic painter' who keeps them all grounded, he declares.

Tarun Sathya Lakhanpal, General Manager-RevenueManagement and Distribution, The Lemon Tree HotelCompany, free time is family time. He says he loves to readbiographies and is currently gathering information on the lifeand work of Bhaskaracharya. Sundaymornings (when in town), he usuallymeets up with his friends and they gettogether for a game of cricket. His hob-bies also include skiing, trekking andmushroom collection. He says, “Myrecent trek and a mushroom collectionforay was to Chur Dhar in HimachalPradesh. I also love driving andhave driven across theSangla valley till the Kaurikborder. Next year, I plan todo the Valley of Flowers.”

Pawan Chandra, Marketing Head – TUI India, is anabsolute gadget-lover and he confesses that he cannotlive without his iPad mini and his iPhone. He says, "Thanksto my work, I get to travel considerablyand explore new things and placesduring my free time after officialwork. One of the things that I loveto do while travelling is to try outnew restaurants and cuisines.From a culinary point of view, myfavourite places are France andSouth Africa. And while outof office, I love to spendtime with my wife and18-month-old son.”

Hem Chander has been appointed as the Executive Sous Chef,ibis Jaipur. Chander comes with almost a decade of experiencein Food & Beverage Operations and Team Management in theHospitality Industry. Chander is well-versed to handle coffeeshops, specialty fine dining and banquet-ing. He has earlier worked withAtlantis, The Palm Jumeriah Dubai,The Oberoi Wildflower Hall,Shimla, The Piccadily, HimalayaMarg, Chandigarh and ComfortInn & Suits by Choice HospitalityInternational.

ibis JaipurJaipur


HIGHLIGHT

Future of domestictourism

According to MOT figures,Indian domestic tourist

visits have crossed 1 billion-mark. In other words, whenthe world was celebratingone billion tourists interna-tionally, Indian domestictourists also crossed the 1-billion mark. The ForeignTourist Arrivals (FTAs) inIndia during 2012 havereached 6.58 million. Theestimated number of domes-tic tourist visits in 2012 was1027 million. This reiteratesthe growing importance ofdomestic tourism in India.Earlier, the approach in Indiawas to woo the foreign trav-eller who pays in dollars.However, visitor numbers inrecent years indicate that itis the Indian tourist whoshould be the target. But forseveral reasons, some ofthem fortuitous, a growingfocus on the domestic marketis already visible. Indiansmay not be as free with theirspending but the advantageis that they are unlikely to putoff travel plans within thecountry. There is another rea-son behind the spurt indomestic tourism. It is finallybeing marketed. For manyyears, all tourism advertising

and promotion was handledby central government bod-ies. They sold India, but notany particular state or desti-nation. Now with statedepartments aggressivelymarketing their own products, the scenario is changing.

ChallengesDue to crisis in Indian

economy and naturalcalamities, domestic tourismhas got a setback. However,even then it will not beaffected in the long term.We need the support of MOTand state tourism depart-ments so that we canexplore more avenues ofinter-state and intra-statetourism. Also, our domesticairfares are higher than air-fares from India to SouthEast Asian countries.Airfares thus need tobecome more rational.Currently, security, especial-ly for women has become amajor issue. This needs tobe tackled.

The Rupee ImpactWith rupee at an all-

time low, planned foreignholiday travel this season hasobviously become dearer.Thus, people are expected totravel more in India. Therupee’s travails have given an accidental push to

domestic tourism. It will alsobe a shot in the arm forIndia’s stagnant hospitalitysector, which is reeling ashigh inflation and risingimport costs eat away at prof-it margins. But such benefi-cial fallouts cannot be count-ed on forever. More physicalinfrastructure is needed atthese domestic destinationsto cash in on the situation in the long run.

ADTOI Membershipgrowth

The association wasestablished in 1996, almost17 years back with sevenfounder members. Now in2013, we have about 725members, including 300active members. We are tar-getting at least 300 newmembers as we look at reach-ing the 1000-mark for ourmembers till the end of termof this team. The associationhas recently also launched itsfifth chapter inMaharashtra inAugust.

Thestate has thepotential to pro-mote adventure,MICE, wine andspiritual tourism.Through thischapter,we will

take up issues faced by trav-el agents, tour operators andtransporters at the grass rootand macro levels, he said. Inaddition, the MaharashtraChapter will play an integralpart in boosting tourism inthe state. “We have taken upthe initiative to establish twoto three chapters in the nexttwo years and thus,Maharashtra was the top pri-ority. Going forward, the

association will look atestablishing chap-

ters in Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu,Madhya Pradeshand UttarPradesh,” Khannasaid.

In an uncertain environment – where global economic slowdowns havebecome a way of life – the Indian travel industry is coming to realise thatdomestic tourists are their primary audience. In a tete-a-tete with , PP Khanna, VP, ADTOI, talks about the new focus on the domestic traveller.

It’s time to woo the home crowd

ME G H A PAU L

Indians may not be as free with their spending butthe advantage is that they are unlikely to put offtravel plans within the country. Another regionbehind the spurt in domestic tourism is that it isfinally being marketed. Now with statedepartments aggressively marketing their ownproducts, the scenario is changing for the better

PP KhannaVice President

ADTOI

� Our domestic airfares arehigher than airfares fromIndia to South East Asiancountries. Air fares thusneed to become morerational.

� Currently, security,especially for women hasbecome a major issue.This needs to be tackled

Aims & objectives

Postal Reg. No.: DL(ND)-11/6044/2012-13-14; WPP No.: U(C)-178/2012-14 for posting on 1st-2nd and 15th-16th

of the same month at New Delhi P.S.O., RNI No.: 53492/91Date of Publication:14-09-2013


TravTalk September 2013

Documents

Transcript of TravTalk September 2013